Scrappy Federer survives Mayer to reach Hamburg semis

Roger Federer (file photo)

Florian Mayer made the most of a shaky Roger Federer to draw him into a scrappy duel that lasted nearly two hours, only to let it slip in the final moments of the match. Federer has looked tentative all week and needed three sets for a second time this week to keep himself afloat in the bet-at-home German Tennis Championships in Hamburg. The Swiss genius was broken five times, before managing to eke out a workmanlike 7-6(4), 3-6, 7-5 victory over his 45th-ranked opponent.

Federer used the power on his 98″ racket to negotiate some space at the net as he sought to make an early impression against Mayer. But the Argentine took advantage of the shanking Swiss to force deuce in the second game. Federer responded by striking deep to hold serve to 1-1.

In the sixth game, Federer exposed his lingering tentativeness by squandering three game points to fall back to deuce. Once again, the Swiss bailed himself out of trouble by making good use of the space around the net.

With neither man willing to cede an inch, the set seemed destined for a breaker. Mayer blinked first in the tie-break, sending a backhand volley wide to allow Federer a 2-0 cushion. The Argentine though made immediate amends, passing Federer at the net with a scorching forehand winner.

The set swung Federer’s way when Mayer lost both his serves at 4-3. Federer punched a delightfully struck forehand winner to take the tie-breaker 7-4 and put himself ahead after 47 minutes of play. With the temperature dipping slightly, Federer pulled on a black sweater over his blue tee.

Federer enjoyed his first break point of the match in the second game, but Mayer kept his nerve to hold ground and get the second set off to an even start, firing an ace to hold serve. With Federer making successive errors, it was Mayer who took the first break of the match. The Argentine struck a forehand winner past the Swiss to take a 2-1 lead in the set with the break in his bag. Mayer went on to stun the Hamburg crowd into silence, stringing together five straight games to take a commanding 5-1 lead in the second set.

Federer extracted a break to gain some respectability in the set, but Mayer earned a set point in the next game. He broke Federer for a third time in the set to haul the match into a decisive third set. It was a story told in break points – Mayer converted each of his three chances in the set, while Federer could only manage one out of seven.

In the third game of the final set, Mayer found the net with his backhand to hand two break points. Federer grabbed the opportunity to put himself in front on the final stretch. But in the very next game, Federer mishit an overhead to gift break back point to his opponent. Mayer missed it, but Federer gave another and the Argentine accepted to draw level at 2-2.

As the scrap intensified, the two traded breaks again, before holding serve to stay level at 5-5. With the match reaching a climax, Federer dug out a forehand cross-court return winner to earn a vital break in the eleventh game. A backhand drop shot of vintage brilliance gave Roger his first match point. Mayer dumped his return on the next point in the net to leave Federer relieved and through to the semis.

In the other quarterfinal, Fabio Fognini resisted a late effort from Tommy Haas to defeat the German 6-2, 6-4 even as the home crowd spurred on the local favourite with desperate urgency. Haas was broken twice in the first set as Fognini established a firm grip on the contest. The German had four chances to break in the 8th game, but spurned them all and Fognini took the set at his first opportunity.

The Italian took an early break in the second set to almost shut the door on Haas, but the hometown hero fought back from 1-3 to draw even. But Haas surrendered the serve again in the ninth game and Fognini served out at love to reach the weekend for the second straight week. In the semis, Fognini will face Nicolas Almagro, who has a 3-1 edge in their career meetings.

The Spaniard was down a set against Juan Monaco, who had beaten him in the semi-finals here last year. But the 15th-ranked Almagro worked his way back into the match, drawing level with a bagel in the second set. The Spaniard needed nearly two hours to earn a hard fought 3-6, 6-0, 6-4 victory over the fifth-seeded Monaco.

Federico Delbonis is the youngest of the remaining lot this week. The 22-year-old qualifier showed immense resilience to fight back from match point down to upset Fernando Verdasco and reach the semi-finals for the first time since Stuttgart in 2011. Delbonis saved a match point in the second set tie-breaker.

He had a comfortable 5-3 lead in the third set, but failed to serve out the victory. Verdasco, ever the gentleman, helped him by throwing in his fifth double fault in the next game to send the delighted Argentine through with a 6-7(5), 7-6(8), 6-4 victory.