CINCINNATI, Ohio — Canadian Vasek Pospisil pushed Roger Federer to a third set at the Western & Southern Open before falling to the tournament’s second seed.
Federer beat Pospisil 7-6 (4), 5-7, 6-2 in the second-round match on centre court to become the only man to reach 300 wins at the Masters 1000 level in men’s singles.
The Swiss star, third in the ATP world rankings, is coming off an appearance in the finals of the Rogers Cup in Toronto. Federer lost that match to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
Pospisil beat Radek Stepanek in the first round in Cincinnati a week after losing his opening match at the Rogers Cup. He had 33 winners and 37 unforced errors against Federer.
Pospisil played tough against Federer, forcing a tiebreaker that he ultimately lost on a forehand error. Pospisil secured the second set when Federer missed on a forehand cross-court.
The third set was all Federer, with Pospisil broken twice on the way to the loss.
"Any time you play Roger, there is always extra tension," said Pospisil. "I’ve always looked up to him so much. I was tense in the first set and that claimed a lot of energy.
"In the second I played better but in the third a couple of points made the difference."
Pospisil also pointed to his heavy playing schedule at Cincinnati as a problem.
"I had heavy legs at that point, maybe I was paying the price for the first set," he said. "I had five sets form singles and doubles the day before.
"I was missing some pop in my serve and he played well when he needed to."
Men’s No. 5 seed Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ont., is in action later Wednesday against American Robby Ginepri.
Women’s seventh seed Eugenie Bouchard of Westmount, Que., plays Svetlana Kuznetsova.
