rogerfederer.com - Roger wins second Masters match

Roger wins second Masters match

Roger kept his Masters Cup 2008 bid alive by beating Radek Stepanek 7-6(4), 6-4 in Shanghai today. It did take a fair bit of work to beat Stepanek, who played in the place of Andy Roddick, who withdrew from the tournament earlier Wednesday with a sprained ankle after losing his opening match Monday.

Roger still showed some of the rust that plagued his opening loss to Gilles Simon. His first-serve percentage was higher than in his first match, but the shots still lacked some of their usual sting. "It's been a tough week for me from the start," said Roger, adding his back was fine but that he had a stomach ailment after his match Monday night against Simon and felt "terrible" when he woke up Tuesday. He spent the day in his room, trying to recover. "It would have been impossible to play yesterday," he said.

"Maybe I got lucky that Andy withdrew," Roger said. "And then Radek is not playing with his own rackets, so that made it a little bit more lucky again. I hope with a day of recovery, I'll make a miracle happen here and get through into the semis."