By Chris Oddo | Friday, January 9, 2015
Roger Federer cruised past James Duckworth to set up a semifinal encounter with Grigor Dimitrov.
Photo Source: Christopher Levy (@Tennis_Shots)
On Thursday Roger Federer struggled mightily to get past an Aussie unknown. On Friday, he proved that practice pays off.
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In his second match against a young Aussie in two nights, Federer laid waste to James Duckworth, dropping only one game in a clinical 39-minute thrashing that sets up a heavily anticipated semifinal with Grigor Dimitrov.
During his post-match on-court interview Federer was asked if he wouldn’t mind answering a few more questions. “I’ve got time,” he said with a wry smile.
Nothing but.
Federer was dominant from the onset and as he racked up games the on-court presence of Duckworth seemed to drift into the shadows. The Roger Federer show was switched on, and Duckworth’s role was to get off the court without too much blood lost.
Duckworth did manage to draw a roar from the crowd when he managed a hold to get to 2-1 in the second set, but by that time Federer owned an edge in the winner count of 14 to 0. The damage was done.
Federer would race through the final four games, finishing the match with a screaming forehand winner to end festivities in 39 minutes.
”Just a great match overall, super happy,” said Federer, who is now only two matches shy of his 1,000th career tour-level win. “I’ve definitely got used to the center court now. Had a great start to the match today, that calmed the nerves down a little bit.”
Federer—and fans—can look forward to a heavily anticipated semifinal with Grigor Dimitrov. The rising Bulgarian has a game that has been tooled in Federer’s model, but he’s been carving a path of success all his own over the last 12 months on the ATP Tour.
“He’s a really fun guy to watch and to play as well because he’s a great shotmaker and a great athlete,” said Federer.
Federer has defeated Dimitrov in their previous two meetings without the loss of a set.