Halle, Germany - Roger Federer began his grass-court preparations for Wimbledon by coming from behind to beat Joao Sousa of Portugal 6-7 (8), 6-4, 6-2 at the Gerry Weber Open on Thursday.
Sousa saved all five break points he faced before taking the first set in a tiebreaker, but the second-seeded Federer raised his level in the next two sets to win the second-round match and move into the quarterfinals.
It was Federer's first match since losing in the fourth round at the French Open to Ernests Gulbis. He had a first-round bye in Halle, where he is a six-time champion.
The seven-time Wimbledon winner will next play Croatia's Ivo Karlovic or Taiwan's Lu Yen-hsun.
Top-seeded Rafael Nadal was scheduled to play Dustin Brown later on Thursday in his first match since winning his ninth French Open title.
Sapa-AP