Federer beats Tiafoe of US to advance at Miami Open
Miami, March 26 (IANS) Swiss tennis great Roger Federer encountered more resistance than expected from American teenager Frances Tiafoe in second-round action, but he took full control toward the end to win 7-6, (7-2), 6-3 at the Miami Open here.
Tiafoe showed impressive power in his serve and ground strokes to stay even with the 18-time Grand Slam champion until the tie-breaker, but Federer drew on his experience at that juncture to take the first set on Saturday, reports Efe.
It then appeared the match might remain close when the Swiss played a sloppy service game to drop the opening game of the second set.
But after Tiafoe did not get a single break point in the opening set, the 19-year-old American was broken twice in the second set as the match slipped away from him.
With the victory, the fourth-seeded Federer ran his current winning streak to seven matches and will next take on either big-hitting Argentine Juan Martin del Potro or the Netherlands’ Robin Haase in the third round.
In other second-round men’s singles action, top-seeded Swiss Stan Wawrinka defeated Argentine Horacio Zeballos 6-3, 6-4, and promising German teenager Alexander Zverev, the No. 16 seed, routed Taiwan’s Lu Yen-hsun 6-0, 6-3.
