Even in victory Federer said he would decide at the last minute whether he can take to the court against 13th-seeded Austrian Dominic Thiem, a 6-3, 6-2 victor over Joao Sousa.
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These stats make it clear that the German poses a threat to Federer if the Swiss does not play at close to his top level but it is hard to dispute the world number three’s status as favourite.
He said: “I was expecting to lose in straight sets today”.
Eugenie Bouchard, the 2014 Wimbledon runner-up, beat the second-seeded Kerber 6-1, 5-7, 7-5; Irina-Camelia Begu, ranked 35th, defeated Azarenka 6-3, 6-2; and last year’s semifinalist Daria Gavrilova eliminated Halep 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 in a match that was temporarily interrupted by rain.
In the women’s tournament, top-ranked Serena Williams came back from 3-5 down in the opening set and saved a set point in the tiebreak of a 7-6 (7), 6-1 win over American qualifier Christina McHale.
German Alexander Zverev returns the ball to Swiss Roger Federer during their second round match for the Italian Open Tennis Tournament at the Foro Italico in Rome, Italy, 11 May 2016. I don’t know how I’m going to feel tomorrow [against Dominic Thiem].
Zverev challenged Federer, but the 19-year-old fell in straight sets, 6-3 7-5.
“The next 10, 12 days are going to be really important for me to recover. For me it was a big match on many levels”.
Having lost to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarter-finals of last month’s Monte Carlo Masters, he is in danger of going into the French Open seriously short of matches.
But as for competing in Rome, Federer said: “My body’s just not ready”.
Federer’s participation in this tournament had been in doubt because of his back problem, but the Swiss looked in decent shape during his victory over Zverev in a battle of the generations.
“If you really want to play at the top and if you want to be a candidate for a top spot in the world, you need to be healthy”.
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Zverev became one of the youngest players to ever win an ATP Challenger Tour title when he claimed the Sparkassen Open in Braunschweig two years ago and won the Australian Open Juniors title the same year. I’m very disappointed obviously with that.
