Federer Fights Back Against Raonic in Madrid to Advance
May 10, 2012 | By Long Island Tennis Magazine Staff
Photo credit: Kenneth B. Goldberg
World number three-ranked Roger Federer defeated Milos Raonic in three sets, 4-6, 7-5, 7-6, at the 2012 Madrid Open to avoid what would have been his earliest tournament loss in over two years. He has not been eliminated in the second round of a tournament since competing at the 2010 Rome Masters tournament. Federer dug into his great shot-making abilities to survive an early set deficit and fought back in the final two taking both to seven. Rafael Nadal also played in his second match where he won against Nikolay Davydenko in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2.
"These are some of the fastest courts on tour, I expected that a few shots would decide the match, that’s what it was like back in the days of (Pete) Sampras, (Boris) Becker and (Stefan) Edberg," Federer said. "That’s the way it was tonight. I thought I could take it to him by serving and volleying and it worked a bit. I definitely started to get a better read on his serve and to get into more baseline rallies, make him hit more shots on his own serve."
On the women’s side of the draw, Petra Kvitova, the defending Madrid Open women’s champion, fell to Lucie Hradecka in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3, while world number one-ranked Victoria Azarenka defeated Ana Ivanovic, 6-4, 6-4. Li Na of China and Samantha Stosur also reached the quarterfinals of the Open and Radwanska will face Roberta Vinci.
