KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. (AP) — Laban sa mas batang karibal, hindi natinag ang lakas ni Roger Federer.
“I think he’s going to be really good. He’s got big shots, and I like his mindset. That goes a long way,” pahayag ni Federer.
“He stayed with me for a very long time. That can make you nervous if I wouldn’t have been so confident. So I thought it was an enjoyable match. I thought we both played very well, and both can maybe walk away from this match quite happy, which is not often the case in tennis,” aniya.
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“He was rock solid,” Tiafoe said. “He didn’t give me anything.”
Tangan ang 14-1 marka ngayong 2017, kabilang ang ika-18 Grand Slam championship sa Australian Open nitong Enero, malaki ang potensyal ni Federer na maguwi muli ng titulo sa pagkawala nina six-time champion Novak Djokovic at two-time champion Andy Murray na kapwa nagtamo ng injury sa siko.
Ang posibleng humarang sa kanya ay ang kababayang si Stan Wawrinka, seeded No. 1 sa ATP Masters 1000 tournament sa unang pagkakataon. Nalagpasan niya ang opening match kontra Horacio Zeballos, 6-3, 6-4.
Nagwagi rin sina American John Isner at Sam Querrey sa straight sets, gayundin ang 19-anyos na si German Alexander Zverev.
Sa women’s play, umusad si No. 6-seeded Garbine Muguruza nang pataubin si No. 30 Zhang Shuai 4-6, 6-2, 6-2, habang pinatalsik ni American Bethanie Mattek-Sands si No. 17 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 4-6, 6-0, 6-3.
