Swiss great comes through 6-4 3-6 6-1 against German and will next face Fernando Verdasco
Tuesday 26 February 2019 11:04, UK
Roger Federer's attempt to win his 100th ATP singles title saw him overcome a mid-match wobble to beat Philipp Kohlschreiber at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Federer won his 99th tour title in October in Basel, and his three bids since for the century have ended in two semi-finals and then fourth round to Stefanos Tsitsipas at the Australian Open.
He entered the first-round match with a 13-0 record against the German, and landed an early break to run through the first set before Kohlschreiber had other ideas.
The German rallied to claim the second set - only the third time he has taken a set off the 20-time Grand Slam champion - and force a decider, where Federer regrouped to claim in style.
An early forced error from Kohlschreiber gave Federer an opportunity to lead 2-0 early on and he claimed four of the next five games for what, in the end was a straightforward victory.
"Somehow get through. Somehow try not to lose," Federer said on in his on-court interview.
"I'm very pleased I was able to find a way. I actually played a really good third set, I thought."
Federer, who is seeded second and has dropped to seventh in the latest world rankings, will next face Fernando Verdasco, the 2017 Dubai runner-up to Andy Murray.
Federer has beaten the 35-year all six times they have played, including their last meeting - a straight-sets win in the last Last 16 in Dubai in 2015.
Verdasco beat Italian qualifier Thomas Fabbiano in three sets while the two other seeds in action on Monday suffered surprise defeats.
Fourth seed Karen Khachanov was beaten 6-4 6-1 by Nikolaz Basilashvili and Jan-Lennard Struff spoiled seventh-seeded Milos Raonic's Dubai debut with a 6-4 5-7 6-4 victory
Basilashvili will face defending champion Roberto Bautista Agut for a place in the last eight, the Spaniard beat Indian wild card Ramkumar Ramanathan 6-4 6-3.
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