Wednesday 25 February 2015 19:20, UK
Roger Federer won 20 points in a row in a stunning victory over Fernando Verdasco as he booked a place in the quarter-finals of the Dubai Championships.
The defending champion trailed 4-1 in the opening set, but regained command with 20 unanswered points and calmly closed out a 6-4 6-3 win over the Spaniard.
A tricky task against the experienced Verdasco appeared even more testing for Federer when he dropped his opening service game, sending a mishit forehand past the baseline.
But the Madrid man’s success was quickly snuffed out by Federer, who won five straight games to love in an extraordinary run to take the first set.
Verdasco was soon broken again in the second and struggled to put another dent in the Swiss star’s serve, with Federer winning 83 per cent of his first service points.
A sweeping forehand pass sent Federer into the next stage of the tournament, where he will face Richard Gasquet.
The Frenchman saved one match point during a 6-4 3-6 7-6 win over Spanish seventh seed Roberto Bautista Agut.
Federer's 20 straight points is not a record. Two players have achieved a 'golden set' - winning a set without losing any of the 24 points.
The American Bill Scanlon was the first to do it, back in 1983, against Marcos Hocevar at Delray Beach. In 2012 Yaroslava Shvedova did the same against Italy's Sara Errani at Wimbledon.
Britain's Greg Rusedski can go one better - he won 25 in a row against Nicolas Massu at Key Biscane in 2001.
Another notable effort was Andy Murray won 23 points in a row against France’s Vincent Millot at last year's Australian Open.
