Federer ready for battle with Murray

Stuart Appleby 01:06 15/12/2015
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  • Roger Federer is admittedly 0-4 in IPTL sets so far this season but the Swiss legend is hoping he can turn things around when he takes on Andy Murray tonight at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium, writes Reem Abulleil.

    The marquee match-up between the world’s No2 and No3 players is the feature showdown this week in the league and it will be a rematch of their 2012 Dubai ATP final which Federer won.

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    Murray beat Federer in their previous Dubai meeting, a first round shock victory back in 2008.

    “I’ll think more of the finals or the semis when I beat him rather than that first round loss which you sort of erase from your memory because there was a lot of first rounds I played in my career, not as many finals unfortunately,” said Federer.

    “Against Andy we’ve had great matches. I think we match up well, I hope tomorrow is going to be nice, I’m sure there’s going to be some serve-and-volleys, some slices, some coming in, seeing what’s happening out there. The court plays definitely slower than the Dubai tournament so we’ll probably see a bit more rallies.

    The UAE Royals front-man may be a record-breaker on this very court, where he won a seventh Dubai ATP crown earlier this year, but he was unable to come through for his team last night as he lost both his doubles and singles sets.

    Federer and Marin Cilic lost their doubles 6-4 to Philippine Mavericks’ Treat Huey and Edouard Roger-Vasselin as the clash between the two teams entered the deciding fifth tied at 20-20.

    The Royals needed Federer to beat Ivo Karlovic to secure the victory but the world No3 was undone by the huge-serving Croat, who upset home hopes by clinching the fifth set 6-4 and sealing a 26-24 win for the Mavericks.

    Federer had also lost doubles (to Indian Aces’ Rafael Nadal/Rohan Bopanna) and singles (to Nadal) on day three of the league’s previous stop in New Delhi last Saturday.

    Today will be Federer’s last shot at redemption in Dubai, as he is not scheduled to play tomorrow, before he flies to Singapore, where he is set to face his fellow Swiss Stan Wawrinka.

    “It’s great fun with the team. Played four matches now and lost all four. It’s not really what we were hoping for but it’s how it goes. At least I’ve got two more so maybe I can tie it up, would be nice,” said Federer.

    “It was a tough match today. Got off to a good start, we looked good for a while there. Then the doubles ran away with it, the same in the singles against Karlovic. I always knew it was going to be a tough match, he’s a tough guy to play against, especially in this format where things can turn around very quickly. But I loved it, I had a good time and I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

    Earlier in the day, the Indian Aces continued their domination of the competition as they eased past the Japan Warriors 25-18. 

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