We waited, we waited, and here he was again. Roger Federer The man of the evening (Wednesday) 6: 7, 6: 3, 5: 7 over the British Daniel Evans in the Doha tournament and qualified for the quarterfinals. The sixth-ranked Swiss in the world returned to the pitches after an absence of over a year and proved a lot of character against the 24-ranked.
It did not go smoothly, but the legendary Swiss returned to smile. After a 13-month absence due to two surgeries in his right knee, Roger Federer opened the match as he barely won the first set against the ambitious British. In the second set, the sixth-ranked player broke the serve in the fourth game and was unable to return to the game.
The third act was tense throughout. The two contenders kept the submissions until the 12th game, then Federer proved that with a difficult attempt to tackle, he managed to break Evans on the way to an exciting victory after suffering a serious injury. In the next round, the 39-year-old Swiss will meet Nicholas Basilashvili (42).
ROGER FEDERER IS BACK IN BUSINESS 🙌
He scores a 7-6 (8), 3-6, 7-5 victory over Dan Evans in Doha.#RogerReturns pic.twitter.com/87r333nG5M
– ATP Tour (@atptour) March 10, 2021
Also the top ranked in the tournament, Dominic Tim (4th in the world), had to sweat before getting his ticket to the quarterfinals. Despite a 2: 5 advantage over Aslan Kartzev, the sensation from the Australian Championship, the Austrian lost the first set 7: 6. He recovered in the next two sets with 3: 6, 2: 6 and went on to the next stage, where he will meet the Roberto Bautista-Agot (13), who defeated Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan in two sets (4: 6, 3: 6).
Another player claiming the crown in Doha is Andrei Rublev (8 in the world). The Russian skipped to the quarterfinals following the retirement of Richard Gasque. David Gofen, who is ranked 6th in the tournament, was eliminated after a 2: 1 loss To Taylor Fritz (33 in the world) at the end of 2:37 hours of tennis. The surprising American will meet the Dennis Shapovalov, Who defeated Vasquez Phosphicil in the Canadian Derby.