After a first round-bye, a win over Alejandro Gonzalez 7-6 6-4, Richard defeated Kevin Anderson 6-3 6-4 for a clash against Roger Federer.
Media reports about a hesitant match from Richard against the young Columbian did not quite catch the reality. Gonzalez was in good form, he had taken a set from Djokovic in Indian Wells where the Serb had won the tournament. Both players had very good winners/unforced error ratios and Richard won with experience.It is true, however, that Richard upped his game against Anderson. Very solid on first serve in the first set, he broke the South African after having fended off breakpoints himself. Richard returned well, Anderson hit his first ace in his last service game.
In the second set, both players had to deal with breakpoints, and it was Richard who scored the decisive break at 3 all. He did not look back and served out the match on his third matchpoint for a clean 6-3 6-4 victory.
