Tennis-Federer slogs past Koepfer in late night battle

[ASFN Admin]

PARIS (Reuters) -Roger Federer reached the last 16 of the French Open but needed all of his fighting qualities to scrap his way past Germany's Dominik Koepfer on an empty and eerie Court Philippe Chatrier in Saturday's night match. The 39-year-old 20-time Grand Slam champion was ragged at times and lacked his usual zip against the tenacious Koepfer but the eighth seed slogged his way to a 7-6(5) 6-7(3) 7-6(4) 7-5 victory with the time approaching 1am local time. It was Federer's first taste of a Grand Slam match played without fans, courtesy of Paris's 9pm COVID-19 curfew, and it was not an experience he seemed to enjoy as he was given a torrid time by the 27-year-old left-hander.

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