Dominic Koepfer reflects on missed out chance to beat Roger Federer at French Open

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• Roger Federer

World No. 64 Dominik Koepfer admitted he regrets for missing out on a chance to beat Roger Federer at the French Open but added playing the Swiss at a Grand Slam tournament was still a nice memory. Koepfer, 27, competed extremely well against Federer when they met in the French Open third round last year but it was the 20-time Grand Slam champion that won 7-6 (5) 6-7 (3) 7-6 (4) 7-5.

After winning the second set, Koepfer had a 4-2 lead in the third set but failed to hold on to his serve and win go up by two sets to one. “Of course it's bitter when you play against Roger, you come so close and you don't win.

It was probably one of the last chances to beat him I think. He is slowly on his way to retirement. Nevertheless it was a great experience. It was also a bit of a shame that it didn't happen in front of spectators. It was during the night session and there was a curfew in Paris, you weren't allowed to go out after 9pm.

After that it will still be a beautiful memory. But I also know that I have regrets because I had my chances. Looking back, I think I lacked nerve at the end of the match," Koepfer told Tennisnet.com.

Federer survived the Koepfer scare

The match finished just minutes before the clock struck 1 am in Paris.

After beating Koepfer, Federer admitted he was unsure how much he had left in his tank after the two first sets that featured tie-breaks. "I wasn't sure after the second set how much was left in the tank, so it was a good battle until then," Federer said.

"I thought [this win] was very important for me. I clearly hadn't practiced three hours [and] 35 [minutes], because that's obviously always pushing it. I pushed as much as I could, as we thought reasonable. But this today was I think a huge step forward for the team, and for all of us."