Second set and Millman facing triple break point, and unfortunately he slips on this point, as the former U-S Open champ fires a victor into the open court and grabs a 5-4 lead.
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The match was short but I felt good – no tension.
He battled back from 15-40 in the 12th game of the second set and then saved another set point with an unreturnable serve. Playing for the first time since the Rome Masters this spring, Federer survived an impressive performance by Taylor Fritz 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 on Thursday afternoon.
“Two matches in a row, it’s handsome right now”, Federer, who pulled out of the French Open with a back injury, said of his grasscourt buildup ahead of this month’s Wimbledon. The world No. 226 soon found himself sidelined for the last four months of 2015 and did not play again until April of this year because of multiple injuries. “I was more fortunate at the end”.
I was wondering where it went during some of the match. The Swiss had not played in more than a month after dealing with a back issue – and the 17-time grand slam victor, looked like a player just getting back from injury.
Only Jimmy Connors, who won 1,253 matches during his career, now sits ahead of Federer on the list.
While Federer may have been rusty, second-seeded Marin Cilic was completely off, losing to the veteran qualifier Radek Stepanek 7-6 (4), 7-5. A return into the net by Fritz gave Federer the first set.
I have great respect for Federer, but I also showed I was not afraid to test him by winning the second set and trying to win the match – I hung in there. Finally back and in form, Mayer qualified for the main draw in Stuttgart before beating No. 6 seed Viktor Troicki in straight sets and wild card Michael Berrer 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.
It was Federer (out there), but I wasn’t afraid to try and take the match.
Thiem will line up in Friday’s quarter-finals against Mikhail Youzhny after the Russian beat Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-3, 7-6 (7/1).
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He will next face the fourth seed Gilles Simon who needed three sets to prevail over local hope Jan-Lennard Struff 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.
