Federer retains Hamburg title
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-05-16 09:39

World number one Roger Federer avenged himself upon wonder-kid Richard Gasquet quicker than he can have ever expected when he beat the 18-year-old Frenchman in the final of the Hamburg Masters Series.

Swiss tennis player Roger Federer, holds the trophy after his final against French Richard Gasquet at the ATP Masters Series tournament in Hamburg, northern Germany, on Sunday, May15, 2005. Federer won in three sets 6-3, 7-5 ,7-6. [AP]

It was Federer's shock loss to Gasquet in last month's Masters Series in Monte Carlo that triggered a three-week absence from the tour with inflamed feet.

His 6-3, 7-5, 7-6 (7/4) success here also earned him his 41st win in 43 matches since last year's US Open, extended his all-time record of consecutive winning finals to 19, and retained his Hamburg title.

"This is not just a build-up to the French Open, this is a big tournament and one that I was pleased to win and am just as pleased to defend," said Federer.

"I was concerned about what Gasquet did to mys econd serve in Monte Carlo and I was glad to be able to stop him doing that here."

He was always strong favourite for the title, even on his least favourite surface, but it was long odds that Federer should have had the revenge chance against Gasquet, who had had seven matches in nine days, two in the qualifying competition.

This marathon schedule, greatly reduced Gasquet's chances of becoming, just six weeks before his 19th birthday, the third youngest player ever to win a Masters Series title.

"I was a little bit tired, but it's a final and that's different. I had a little bit of pressure, but after a while I felt okay," the Frenchman said.

"I won seven matches in the tournament and lost to Roger Federer, so it's still been fantastic for me. I have gained a lot of experience and confidence."

Gasquet only did himself justice in flashes and the match had a slightly surreal flavour with the roof pulled over even before the start in case of showers, giving a slightly sepia tinge to a blossom-laden May day.

There was also a hint of nostalgia about Federer's classic game, full of flowing drives and frequent net attacks which prevailed over the youngster's harder serving and more ambitious ground strokes.

Federer came to the net almost three times as often as Gasquet and more often mixed in short slices to take his opponent out of his comfort zones.

But the biggest difference was Federer's capacity to win the big points, Gasquet being unable to convert any of his five break points and having his defences broken by the sudden surge of driving pace with which Federer snatched a crucial mini-break two rallies before the end.

Gasquet seemed more nervous than usual both before and during the first set of his biggest final so far.

His famously fluent backhand was spluttering and he contrived to lose his opening service game even though Federer was showing signs, not for the first time this week, of starting slowly.

The teenager double-faulted on the second point and lost a crazy seventh point in which he volleyed a ball which appeared to be going out and let drop a lob landing six feet in.

That put him break point down and that lost game was the difference between them in the first set, even though Federer was making errors with drops and short slices and had to save three break back points in the seventh game.

The second set however saw Gasquet begin to fire. He earned two more break points in the second game - again unconverted - and in the ninth game revealed some of his most dashing moments.

Once the teenager ran back for an attempted pass, whipping it cross court for a winner in the opposite direction to that in which he was moving.

Three rallies later he had the crowd in its feet after a sequence of spectacular retrieves which conjured a point from an apparently lost cause.

However, Federer hung on to his serve all through and things fell apart for Gasquet when he played one bad service game at 5-5 and it cost him the set.

It also cost him the chance of gaining control of the match too, though there were anxious moments between the two sets when the trainer had to take the scissors to a massive bandage on his left foot.

He made no mistake however and after a short time out Federer's foot seemed more than equal to the task of continuing.

The third set went with serve right through, with Federer wearing an increasingly casual air, and Gasquet realizing that a sudden surge from the champion was imminent.

When it came, with a backhand-down-the-line and forehand-down-the-line combination to get him to 5-4 in the tie-break with two serves to follow, it was predictable but nonetheless unstoppable.

It was not a top class performance but it was an eloquent one, saying much for Federer's clay court credentials that he should have won so well in what was his last build-up tournament before the Grand Slam event in Paris.

That should have confirmed the world number one, already a winner of the other three Grand Slams, as one of the front-runners, along with Spain's Rafael Nadal and Argentina's Guillermo Coria, for the French Open.

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