Roger Federer overpowered a 2nd set wobble to bang home player Daniel Brands by 3-6 6-3 6-2 on his comeback to action at the German Tennis Championship ATP Hamburg.
The world number five Swiss, who played at the Hamburg claycourt event with a larger, new racket, was compelled to dig deep prior to coming through to establish a last 16 showdown with Jan Hajek.
Remarkably, Federer broke Brands once in the commencing set but allowed his German rival to return into the match in the second when he abandoned serve for the first time. But much to his relief, the four-time winner of the event displayed his class in the decider.
Federer commented that it was a tough match and Daniel was playing a very good season. Subsequently, Federer will face Czech qualifier Hajek in the next round following he got the better of 15th-seeded Ernests Gulbis of Latvia by 6-4 2-6 6-4.
It is well known that the home favorite Tommy Haas was a famous 6-1 4-6 6-4 winner over Blaz Kavcic. The fourth-seeded Jerzy Janowicz as well as a Wimbledon semi-finalist, prevailed by 6-4 3-6 7-6 (7/4) over Robin Haase of the Netherlands.
Fortunately, defending champion Juan Monaco survived a harsh opener against Gael Monfils by 6-4 6-4. However, seeded quartet Tommy Robredo, Andreas Seppi, Martin Klizan and Mikhail Youzhny all departed. On the other hand, Fabio Fognini, Feliciano Lopez and in-form Fernando Verdasco progressed.
