Roger Federer caused the day’s laugh with a failure – and in case of doubt, he will probably aim for Jack Sock’s rear end in the future.
By Florian Goosmann from London
It was not a match for eternity, the opening singles match between Roger Federer and Jack Sock. Difficult, as Federer said afterwards, because you have to get used to the conditions in the o2-Arena, you try to keep the ball in the game and concentrate on your own serve. And then Federer took Rafael Nadal’s favourite word in his mouth: you have to have a good intensity – and the Swiss had it.
Federer got off to a good start, suspecting the corner where Sock was supposed to make his Brutalo forehand in the first rally, and countered with a backhand longline winner, followed by another one for the break.”I was hoping to get off to a good start and then play a little freer,”said Federer. In the tiebreak of the second set Sock then helped with a double error – 6:4,7:6 (4) it was said at the end.
There was a big laugh, which will get stuck in an average game for a while: at the score of 4:2 in set one, when Sock missed a half volley stop and Federer only had to finish, while Sock had already turned his flip side to him. When the ball neither passed Sock nor hit him, he looked around irritated, realized Federer’s failure and made it clear to him:”Here, you should have aimed at my butt!
Of course, Federer was asked about this in the press conference – whether it had happened to him before, that the opponent simply turned his back on him,”That was a great distraction, I can tell you that. Because it’s very big,”Federer countered and laughed.”And I should have aimed for it, the target was bigger than the line for the shot.”
After his Basel victory – and the rejection for Paris – he took it easy, Federer continued to let Federer know:”To be honest, it took me a long time to recover. I was doing slow during Paris Week. And apart from the Andy Murray charity match in Scotland, I didn’t do too much. He since Friday, Saturday, I’ve put on the intensity.”
And then Federer took another important word in his mouth: he had a good “energy” against Sock:”I am glad how it went today that I had good energy. I haven’t felt this good since the del Potro final. I’m happy I didn’t have to pay a price for resting.”
On Tuesday, the Swiss player will now face Alexander Zverev (21:00 a. m. CET), especially in the arena, a game in which the few chances will be crucial. The Maestro will need a good intensity and energy again – and in case of doubt a little more target water.