Federer shock loser at Australian Open
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E-mail Xinhua, January 23, 2015
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| Roger Federer of Switzerland returns the ball during the third round match of men's singles against Andreas Seppi of Italy at the 2015 Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, Jan. 23, 2015. Seppi won 3-1. [Xu Yanyan/Xinhua] |
Andreas Seppi pulled off a remarkable four set win over Roger Federer on Friday to end Federer's perfect record of making the Australian Open fourth round.
Seppi had only taken one set off the 17-time Grand Slam champion in their ten previous matches but that comprehensive record meant little as the Italian worked his way to a 6-4, 7-6 (7-3), 4-6, 7-6 (7-5) victory.
Federer admitted after the match he had won the wrong points after world No.2 finished with more total points than Seppi.
Seppi took the last three points of a tight fourth-set tiebreaker as an outstanding passing shot eliminated the four-time Australian Open champion at the third round for the first time in his 14 stints at Melbourne Park.
Having reached match point with a crosscourt forehand that caught the line, Seppi served for the biggest win of his career.
Federer attacked the net and Seppi, seemingly out of position, took a wild attempt at passing Federer on the forehand side.
"I didn't think I hit the ball. It looked like a winner (by Federer)," said Seppi in the post-match interview.
Seppi played Federer deep and wide all match and forced him into long rallies that were often ended by a Federer unforced error.
Earlier, Seppi pressured the Federer second serve and took 60 per cent of those points to swamp the world No. 2 and grab a two-set lead.
After trailing 4-1 in the second-set tiebreak, Seppi won six of the next seven with exquisite winners for which even a champion like Federer had no answer.
A better Federer came out in the third set, and turned the tables with an early break that he maintained to push the match into a fourth.
Federer missed an opportunity to break in the first game of the fourth, the only time either threatened each other's serve.
Again, Federer led in the tiebreak, this time serving at 5-4, and waited for his opponent to make a mistake.
Seppi didn't and will now play an unseeded opponent in Nick Kyrgios, the Australian who defeated Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon last year.
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