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By Chris Oddo/ Friday, October 25, 2013

 

The first meeting of Roger Federer and Grigor "Baby Fed" Dimitrov brought out the best in Darren Cahill on Twitter. Oh, and Federer won.

Photo Source: AP

Roger Federer knocked Grigor “Baby Fed” Dimitrov in the Swiss Indoors quarterfinals, 6-3, 7-6(2), in the first meeting between the two players who bear an uncanny resemblance to one another on Friday.

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Dimitrov, who entered the match on a seven-match winning streak after winning his first career ATP title in Stockholm last week, had several chances to force Federer to a third set but lost his nerve late and fell in the tiebreaker.

The match generated a lot of excitement because of the similarity of Dimitrov's game to Federer's. But Dimitrov has grown tired of the comparisons of late, wanting to create his own identity despite of his eerily Federer-esque serve and one-handed backhand. “I’ve been carrying that with me for many years, I don’t know what I have to do to get rid of it,” Dimitrov said of his nickname in an interview at the Rome Masters shortly before Roland Garros this year. “It will be nice if it ends.”

It will be nice if it ends if you are Grigor Dimitrov, but if you are Darren Cahill, tennis coach and ESPN commentator, it will be nice if it continues. Cahill made had a great time joking about the heavily anticipated match on Twitter, comparing Federer and Dimitrov to Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker.

It started early, before the match was about to start:


And continued throughout...

While Federer was crushing a mid-court forehand to secure the only break he would need in the first set, Cahill was thinking of new and exciting ways to explore the intergalactic dynamism of the first meeting between the two look-alikes:

Dimitrov would drop the first set, but jump out in front when Federer double-faulted on a break point in the second.



After Federer rallied from a break down to draw even in the second set, the fun continued:

With Dimitrov fading, Federer would force a tiebreaker and nail down the straight-sets victory there. The win gives Federer an additional 90 points, which significantly strengthens his bid to reach the World Tour Finals in London.

Naturally, that impressed Cahill.


Federer will face Vasek Pospisil in Saturday's semifinals. The five-time Basel champion is now 50-8 at his home event, including nine total appearances in the final.


 

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