Roger Federer survived a pulsating five setter against Gilles Simon in round two of the Australian Open.
Simon went into the match with a 2-0 head-to-head advantage against the world number one but few people gave the in-form Frenchman much of a chance. After two sets the pre-match predictions appeared fully justified but then while Federer started to misfire, Simon raised his game, smoking the lines with his groundstrokes.
Suddenly Federer was facing the very realistic prospect of exiting at the second round stage but the 16-time champion showed exactly why he has not failed to reach the second week of a major since 2003, eventually pulling through 6-2, 6-3, 4-6, 4-6, 6-3.
Federer admitted that he always finds Simon's counter-punching game difficult to deal with. "Matches against Simon don't come easy, every time we go the distance. Hopefully we won't play each other anymore," he said. "I am happy to get through, just keep moving on in the draw and try to find an opponent who suits me more.”
“This is the first win I've had against him, every time we played we go the distance, so hopefully we don't play each other any more. It was really important to get the second set and from then on it was a tough match, it showed what a great mover, return player he is. It's great to play against him, I really enjoyed myself out here tonight, it's really special, and obviously I'm really happy."
"I wasn't playing poorly either to lose the third and fourth set, I really think Gilles took it to me, but you remain positive, I worked hard my entire life, I'm happy I won and I'm still in the tournament."
