rogerfederer.com - Roger defeated in round three

Roger defeated in round three

Roger has dropped out of the Rome Masters in round three, losing 6-4, 6-7(2), 6-7(4) to Richard Gasquet. Our champ made a number of uncharacteristic errors against his French opponent, who he had beaten in their previous eight meetings.

"I should never have lost this match," said Roger. "He knows how close he came to losing. I had multiple chances but I couldn't make the difference. I thought I was playing well but he served better toward the end and hung in there. I didn't feel I could break and it's no fun to play like that".

Roger started into the match well and broke Gasquet in the seventh game of the first set before serving it out. In the second set he already had a 4-2 lead when Gasquet fought his way back into the match and even taking the tiebreak. The third set also had to be decided in a tiebreak where Roger just committed too many errors in the end.

Up next is the second Grand Slam tournament of the year: Roland Garros. "I'm looking forward to a few days to stay mentally and physically fresh and practice very hard" said Roger.