Tennis | Roger Federer Joins Djokovic In Miami Fourth Round, Opelka Loses A Close One

Roger Federer of Switzerland reacts after defeating Filip Krajinovic of Serbia during their men’s singles match at the Miami Open tennis tournament in Miami, Florida, USA, 25 March 2019. EPA-EFE/JASON SZENES

 

 

Federer joins Djokovic in Miami fourth round, Opelka loses a tough one

 

By Ricky Dimon

 

Roger Federer predictably picked up the pace for his second match at the Miami Open on Monday afternoon. Federer, who survived a three-set battle with Radu Albot in his opener, took care of Filip Krajinovic 7-5, 6-3 to reach round four of this Masters 1000 event.

 

The Swiss struck 14 aces and served at 73 percent while advancing in one hour and 30 minutes.

 

“I thought it was a high intense match in the first 10 games,” Federer assessed. “Then I was able to pull away. I had a good 20-minute stretch where I was really able to stretch the lead, and that was key today.”

 

Next up for the 37-year-old is Daniil Medvedev, who outlasted Reilly Opelka 7-6(5), 6-7(5), 7-6(0). Medvedev and Opelka have now faced each other twice in their careers, with both matches requiring final-set tiebreakers to be decided (8-6 at the 2017 Washington, D.C. event and 7-0 this time around).

 

“He plays from far back and can play in, as well, so there is some variety there,” Federer said of Medvedev. “But other than that, he plays very flat. He’s clever how he plays the court, because he can play it up and down and he’s unusual when he plays from back. He plays more flat than actually loopy like what Thiem does or Rafa or Stan does. He plays it more flat from the back. It’s a bit of a different approach.

 

“Thankfully I played him last year twice, in Basel and Shanghai. I’m looking forward to the game. But I’m very impressed about his progress; I must say the last year [was] unbelievable for him. He won three tournaments in the last seven months or so; very impressive.”

 

Other winners on Monday were Kevin Anderson, Jordan Thompson, Denis Shapovalov, and David Goffin. Thompson took down Grigor Dimitrov 7-5, 7-5.

 

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on twitter at @Dimonator.