Federer gets agitated in Paris, but recovers quickly to defeat Cilic
Paris, France-- The 20-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer is into the third round at Roland Garros thanks to a 6-2, 2-6, 7-6, 6-2 victory over Marin Cilic in two hours and 35 minutes.
Roger won back-to-back matches for the first time since the 2020 Australian Open, marking the third victory of the season and finding momentum ahead of the next clash against 59th-ranked Dominik Koepfer of Germany next.
Any match play for Federer is very important as he is still regaining his confidence after coming back from two knee operations in the last year.
"I was a bit surprised by the level I played because I didn't play so much lately," said Federer.
"I was a bit on and off, but I served well in the tie-break. I am very pleased with the result."
Federer won his ninth victory over Cilic from ten meetings and the fifth time in a row, all at distinguished tournaments.
The Swiss played better behind the second serve and fired 16 aces, suffering three breaks from eight chances offered to Cilic and converting five opportunities on the return that carried him over the top.
Federer fired 47 winners and 27 unforced errors, taming his strokes nicely.
Federer had a great start, defending both breakpoints in the opening set and stealing Marin's serve in games three and five to open a 4-1 gap. Roger saved a break chance in game six and closed the opener with a powerful serve at 5-2 after 30 minutes.
Federer lost his cool with the umpire after being warned for taking too long between points. He had a lengthy exchange with the umpire when 3-1 down in the second set after Cilic had complained over the time being taken to get towels at the back of the court between points
After the long discussion with the official at the net in French, which at times got pretty fiery, Federer then questioned Cilic himself about the situation.
In my opinion, it seemed like Cilic was trying to push Federer's buttons, and the umpire was not making the situation any better.
Cilic expunged all four break chances in the second set to gain a lift, finding the cadence on the return and attacking Federer's serve in games two and eight for 6-2, looking much better than in the opener.
The third set went down to the wire after Cilic fended off six out of seven break chances, pulling the break back in game six and staying in touch with Roger until the tie break.
Federer earned a mini-break in the fourth point and served well to maintain the lead carefully before landing an ace at 6-4 to move two sets to one. From 1-1 in set number four, the Swiss shifted into a higher gear and kept the pressure on the other side of the net. He broke Cilic in game four and sealed the deal with another return game at 5-2 to celebrate the triumph and remain in the competition.
The 39-year-old Swiss was a bit surprised about the discussion with Cilic and the umpire.
"Marin was upset with me because he wanted to serve at me without me being in position," Federer told Eurosport.
"With the towels being on either side I'm a bit confused how I'm supposed to do it. I know you are supposed to play at the server's pace but was I have to question was it Marin pushing me a little bit to play extremely fast, or was I playing extremely slow? I'm sorry if I did but I wanted a proper explanation."