Roger Federer polished his game at the expense of an outsider while Lleyton Hewitt was made to struggle into the quarterfinals of the $550 000 Thailand Open on Thursday.
Top seed Federer put a bumpy start 24 hours earlier behind him, rushing past German unknown Denis Gremelmayr 6-3, 6-2.
”I felt okay, I was in control the entire time,” said the world number one, stalking his 11th title of the season.
”I didn’t have to push so I didn’t go 100% all the time,” said the defending champion, who holds 10 titles this season and improved his hard court winning streak to 37, the best in the post-1968 Open era.
Qualifier Gremelmayr, aged 24 and ranked a distant 239th, was playing only the third match of his career at the elite ATP level.
Second seed Hewitt lived dangerously against Justin Gimelstob, saving four match points before finally going through after two hours and 15 minutes, 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (11-9).
Hewitt finally got a break as Gimelstob double-faulted to end it.
”I think the court surface and conditions really suited his game, and he served well in patches out there and was very flashy,” said Hewitt.
”When he keeps coming at you like that he’s a tough player to play against.
”But in the clutch moments I played pretty well. That was the probably the best I played, when the pressure was actually on. That’s a good sign, but I haven’t really served well the last couple of days and hopefully it can improve tomorrow.”
Teenage British tennis hope Andy Murray lived up to his promise to break into the top 100 this season, knocking out Sweden’s fifth seed Robin Soderling 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/5) for his highest ranking to date from Monday.
Murray will also be playing in his first career quarterfinal at the ATP level when he takes on third-seeded American Robby Ginepri, a US Open semifinalist.
”This is a pretty big deal for me, to get there this year,” said Murray (18) who began the year at 411 before making the third round at Wimbledon and the second round at the US Open.
”I’m pretty happy with myself, I’ve played well the last few months and I think I deserve it.”
Finnish sixth seed Jarkko Nieminen overcame Russian Dmitry Tursunov 7-6 (7/2), 6-4.
Home hero Paradorn Srichaphan, the number seven, upstaged Spain’s Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 7-5, 6-4. The Thai national, whose ranking has dropped to 56th with his last title earned more than a 15 months ago, nudged his 2005 record level to 27-27.
Overall, Federer remains untouchable with a 74-3 record in 2005 and aims to retain his Bangkok title.
”I could save energy, but I was careful not to get into any danger,” he said after the abbreviated 61-minute effort against Gremelmayr.
He said his first night here was hell as, unable to sleep because of jet-lag, he passed sleepless hours watching Champions League football in his five-star hotel.
”I’ve had two matches now, I just need to keep getting that little bit better,” Federer said.
”This one was different from the first round, when the guy [Daniel] wanted to play serve-and-volley.
”The guy today, he didn’t play too badly. I got off to a good start in each set. Today my form was better, I was so jet-lagged for the first match.”
Federer will play on Friday against Luxembourg’s Gilles Muller, who is building a reputation as a giant killer after beating Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon and Andy Roddick at the US Open in the first round.
Muller outlasted Peru’s eighth seed Luis Horna 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (7/4), 6-3. – AFP
