Victoria: Roger Federer didn`t have things all his own way as he got past spirited American qualifier Noah Rubin to reach the Australian Open third round in a tough three-setter on Wednesday.
The 17-time Grand Slam champion, seeded 17, fought back from a break down in the final set to win 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (7/3) and will next face long-time rival Tomas Berdych.
Federer, 35, had his service broken for the first time in the final set and the 200th-ranked Rubin was serving to take it into a fourth set before the Swiss legend clawed back to force a tiebreaker.
His match-big experience and composure was enough to pull him through and take the match in 2hr 4min on Rod Laver Arena.
“I have played out here many, many times, that`s my advantage maybe,” Federer said of his first meeting with the 20-year-old American, a Wimbledon junior champion three years ago.
“I did see a bit of Noah going into this match. He`s been around for a couple of years now.
“It`s great to get to see a few matches now. Yeah, plays well. Great fighter. Great legs. Aggressive on the ball.
“My serving kept me in the match today and happy I got through somehow.”
It was Federer`s second win against a qualifier at this year`s Open after he defeated experienced Austrian Jurgen Melzer in four sets on Monday.
Federer is coming off an injury-hit 2016 following knee surgery which forced him to miss the Rio Olympic Games.
The Swiss great also dropped out of the world`s top 10 for the first time in more than 14 years in November, and did not qualify for the ATP World Tour Finals for the first time since 2001.
Source: Zee News