Day 3 (and my second day) dawned to grey skies and humid
conditions. It actually started spitting
with rain as we came into the grounds, and remained a little soggy – even as
they brought the players out.
Federer actually did look very reluctant as they came out,
almost dragging his feet, and almost immediately the rain got heavier and they
were taken straight off.
The delay was about 45 minutes and out they came again.
Federer started with a comfortable hold, and broke Istomin
in the next game, consolidating with a hold.
Both were taking a bit of time to find their range, and not
surprisingly the court was a little bit slippery,
Istomin got to grips with his surroundings, getting himself
on the board and then breaking Federer In the next game.
Another Istomin hold got things back on serve until
Federer’s serve with the scores at 5-5.
A heavy rain shower suspended play for a short while.
I took advantage of this to go find another friend there for the day and give her a ticket for the Handball we would be seeing on Friday.
Play started back again and Federer started the better,
holding and despite taking some time to close it out, got the decisive break
and took the first set 7-5.
At the start of the second set, Istomin took another tumble
and this time took a bit longer to hobble around.
There were still some inconsistencies on Federer’s forehand
and backhand but this set started in exactly the same way as the first, with
Federer taking an early lead with an immediate break.
A ball that was stuck into he crowd, was thrown back. Badly!
It bounced off the heads of the people In the front.
Istomin launched his comeback and there could have been a
chance as Federer did not look as convincing as he usually does in early
tournament rounds.
But it was shortlived, even with launching his racquet
skywards to reach an overhead, and Federer went through.
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