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Federer downs Moodie to reach quarters
Top-ranked Roger Federer coasted to a 6-2, 6-1 win over defending champion Wesley Moodie on Thursday to advance to the Japan Open quarterfinals.
- Indo-Asian News Service
- Updated: February 25, 2007 10:37 AM IST
Read Time:2 min
Tokyo:
Top-ranked Roger Federer coasted to a 6-2, 6-1 win over defending champion Wesley Moodie on Thursday to advance to the Japan Open quarterfinals. Federer established control early, breaking Moodie to go up 4-2 in the first set and slamming five aces before beating the 13th-seeded South African in just 52 minutes. "I was expecting a tough match," said Federer. "I had trouble returning yesterday so I thought it would be tough today, but I served well and made some incredible shots." Federer, who is playing in his first tournament since winning the US Open last month, was sluggish in his opening match Wednesday against qualifier Viktor Troicki but looked back to his dominant form Thursday. He broke Moodie with a crosscourt backhand to take a 2-0 lead in the second set and closed out the match by winning the final three games. Federer, who has won three majors this year, improved to 46-2 on hardcourts. Moodie, who beat Mario Ancic for last year's Japan Open title, won the second game of the first set with three aces, but wasn't able to keep up with Federer after that. "I knew his serve was big," said Federer. "He hit two great serves and then got another ace, but I don't remember him getting many more aces after that." Federer next will face the winner of Thursday's late third round match between Germany's Alexander Waske and Takao Suzuki of Japan. Rain played havoc with scheduled men's and women's play at the Ariake Colosseum Thursday with nine matches postponed to Friday. (AP)Topics mentioned in this article
Tennis Roger Federer
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