Dubai: Seven-time champion and former world No. 1 Roger Federer departed with a sense of regret that he could not extend his stay deep into the week at the silver jubilee of the Dubai Tennis Championships.
Seeking a record eighth crown here, Federer drifted from a winning position to a 6-3, 6-7 (7), 6-7 (5) loss to a player ranked 107 places below him on the ATP World Tour Rankings. Donskoy fought off three match points in the second set tie-break to draw level and clawed back from a 2-5 deficit to win the next four games. Federer led 5-1 in the tie-breaker, but the gutsy Russian won the next six points to wrap up a historic victory and deny Federer’s march towards a 90th career crown.
Federer was left with just regret after missing out on the big stage. He was at a loss to explain the meltdown. “Look, it could be anything right now. It’s tough to judge this one because I could have won in two sets and I’d be already almost hitting the pillow now thinking about [Lucas] Pouille [in the quarter-finals]. But now, here I am explaining what didn’t go well,” Federer reflected.
“Clearly, I can become quite negative about it, but I won’t. It was a tough loss today. Donskoy did well and I’ve just gotta move on from here. I would have clearly liked to do much better here this week,” he shrugged.
Asked to pinpoint the reason for his meltdown against an unheard opponent, Federer said: “I thought I returned way better in the first round. Today I really struggled on the return. I didn’t quite really time it well. Maybe it wasn’t really committed enough. Commitment in tennis is a big thing. In the first round I was. Today I wasn’t, really,” he admitted.
“That sort of is a feeling you get and it trickles in an entire game. Timing, I thought, was off for me today. Legs also felt slower out here tonight. I didn’t feel tired all day. I tried to get myself in shape, and warm up properly and do all the things I always do, regardless if it’s a first round or a final,” the Swiss added.
Federer also refused to make any excuses for his performance. “There are no excuses there. I just think it’s still the beginning of the comeback and gotta take the positives out of playing again a tournament where I feel I’m quite healthy and I’m happy I got over the injury I sustained at the Australian Open,” he noted.
“Maybe I didn’t allow myself to practice as much as I was hoping to in Switzerland, but at the same time I also needed the rest. There was also no problem there, really. I came early. I was perfectly prepared. It’s just a tough loss tonight,” the 18-time Grand Slam champion added.
