Agencies
INDIAN WELLS, Mar 11: Four-time Indian Wells champion Roger Federer held on through two tiebreakers on Monday to beat Dmitry Tursunov in straight sets at the first ATP Masters of the year. It wasn't a dominant performance from the former world number one and 17-time Grand Slam champion, but it showcased the confidence he has regained with a strong start to 2014 after a disappointing -- by his standards -- 2013 campaign. "Now I feel like I'm in a good place. Zen on the court," Federer said after his 7-6 (9/7), 7-6 (7/2) victory. "I know what my solid level is. Even if I won six and six today, I just feel like I was calm and served for the set -- OK, got broken, still managed to stay calm."
Federer broke Tursunov to open the match, but was broken as he served for the set at 5-4 before winning the tiebreaker.
He recovered an early break in the second set before dominating in the second-set decider. Federer arrived in California on the heels of a victory in Dubai -- where he beat Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals and Tomas Berdych in the final. That win was his first title in nine months, and backed up a solid semi-final showing at the Australian Open, where he posted wins over Andy Murray and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. "It's just good to beat top 10 players from time to time," Federer said. "Especially with the difficult year I had last year, I could really feel at times I was actually not going to beat the best, probably. "I would have a chance sometimes, but more often than not I wouldn't make it through. "I feel different this year. I feel like if I do play my best I can come through again. That's like a major difference." |
