Uneventful is the way you’d like to have it when you’re the world No. 2 and you’re playing a second-round match at an ATP 500 event. That was how it was for Roger Federer today, as he defeated Marcel Granollers 6-3, 6-4 in an hour and 10 minutes in Dubai.
The outcome of the match was remarkably similar to Federer’s 6-3, 6-3 first-round victory over Somdev Devvarman, which lasted five minutes longer. In both, Federer faced two break points early in the second set and saved them on his way an uncomplicated win.
There were a couple of notable points. One was the first in the second game of the second set, when Federer appeared to whack himself on the right leg or foot in the process of hitting a routine backhand. He grimaced a bit and felt around the area, but played on without any apparent problem.
The other took place in the seventh game of the same set, when he chased after a Granollers lob. There was that brief moment when a between-the-legs shot seemed a distinct possibility, or maybe just a high, lofted lob. But neither came from the Swiss—he simply whirled around and fired a low forehand over the net that Granollers couldn't handle with a volley. That drew a huge roar from the crowd.
Federer broke in Granollers' second service game of the first set and in his first of the second set to virtually take all the drama out of the match. His stats were modest: four aces, three double-faults, a first-serve percentage of 57, 80 percent of first-serve points won and 58 per cent of second-serve points won. Adding to the anti-climactic nature of the match was the one that preceded it, a high-intensity three-set win by Novak Djokovic over an in-form Feliciano Lopez.
Earlier, Sergiy Stakhovsky defeated Ernests Gulbis, ruining the possibility of a Federer-Gulbis quarterfinal. The enigmatic Latvian and Federer played a trio of matches in 2010, all three-setters, with Gulbis memorably winning 2-6, 6-1, 7-5 in the second round of Rome.
Stakhovsky, 25 and ranked No. 43, and Federer have never played.
On a rather slow Racquet Reaction day, let’s conclude with a Jeopardy! question.
“Alex, I’ll take ‘Unexpectedly High Tennis Rankings’ for $1,000”
Trebek then reads, “The most unlikely player to reach No. 5 in the ATP doubles rankings in 2010.”
The correct response, “Who is Marcel Granollers?”
Believe it or not, the Spaniard was No. 5 for a single week in October.
—Tom Tebbutt