HAMBURG: Roger Federer struggled in his first match since his Wimbledon humiliation when he had to come back from a set down to defeat Germany’s Daniel Brands in his Hamburg opener yesterday.
The 31-year-old, top-seeded Federer won 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 against the world number 58, who was celebrating his 26th birthday, to reach the third round of a tournament he last played in 2008.
It was his 30th career win at the tournament.
Federer, now ranked five in the world, his lowest point for a decade, goes on to face Jan Hajek of the Czech Republic for a quarter-final spot.
The Swiss great is using this event and the Gstaad tournament, which starts on July 22, to bounce back from his shock Wimbledon exit ahead of next month’s US Open.
Federer crashed out of Wimbledon, where he was the seven-time champion, at the hands of Ukraine’s 116-ranked Sergiy Stakhovsky in his worst Grand Slam defeat for a decade.
The second round loss ended his run of 36 consecutive Grand Slam quarter-final appearances, having not gone out of a major before the last eight since the 2004 French Open.
Hajek reached the third round with a 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 win over Latvian 15th seed, Ernests Gulbis.
Tommy Haas, who first competed at Hamburg in 1997, will play in-form Carlos Berlocq in the third round.
Second seed Haas was made to work hard for a 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 victory over qualifier Blaz Kavcic of Slovenia.
Last week’s Swedish Open champion, Berlocq, continued his run of form by beating Slovak 16th seed Martin Klizan 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7/5).AFP
