Federer falls to an old foe in Wawrinka
17-time Grand Slam champ in early exit again
Stumbling on his way to the net, Roger Federer dropped his racket and fell to his knees on the red clay. Hardly the sort of grace and precision the world has come to expect from the 17-time Grand Slam champion.
There were other unusual sights in Federer’s 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (4) loss in the French Open quarter-finals Tuesday against his pal and Swiss Davis Cup teammate Stan Wawrinka.
“I made 30-something errors today. He, maybe, made one,” said Federer, exaggerating a bit.
Rarely injured and appearing in a 62nd consecutive major, Federer received treatment on his right hand from a trainer during a second-set tiebreaker. For years and years, a dominant and confident force in tennis, Federer slumped in his changeover chair, head bowed, after falling behind two sets to none.
So long superior to the younger Wawrinka, Federer was defeated for only the third time in their 19 head-to-head matches, and for the first time in five meetings at Grand Slam tournaments.
“I tried many things. One of them was trying to put (the ball) up high. Another one was trying to chip it shorter. Another one was trying to hit through the wind,” Federer said. “Obviously I was not going to leave the French Open without having tried everything out there.”
During the eight French Opens from 2005 to 2012, Federer reached at least the semifinals seven times, including winning the 2009 championship to complete a career Grand Slam. But this is now the third year in a row that he has exited Roland Garros in the quarter-finals or earlier.
Give Wawrinka credit. Pow- ering the ball from the baseline in Court Suzanne Lenglen on a windy day, he produced groundstrokes that cut through gusts topping 30 mph (50 kph).
Over at Court Philippe Chatrier, 14th-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga’s 6-1, 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3 victory over No. 5 Kei Nishikori was interrupted for about 40 minutes when three people were injured after a piece of metal panelling was blown off a giant TV screen and fell onto packed rows of spectators below. French Open organizers said none of the injuries was serious.
When he finally had defeated Nishikori, who was trying to become the first man from Japan to reach the semifinals in Paris in 82 years, France’s Tsonga knelt on the court, then rose and used the sole of his right shoe to write “Roland, je t’aime” — “I love you, Roland” — in the clay.
Tsonga then get down on his back, with arms and legs spread apart, as 15,000 or so of his closest friends stood and roared their approval for their man’s second trip to the semifinals at Roland Garros.
“You supported me,” told the crowd during his post-match interview. “I will never forget it.”
He’s a burly guy who can rip the ball as hard as just about anyone on tour, and he and Wawrinka have evenly split six career meetings.
Against Federer, Wawrinka put together a 43-28 edge in winners and erased all four break points he faced.
As well as Wawrinka played, he probably would have been just fine without the point conceded by Federer that made it 4-3 for the eventual winner after a disputed call in the tiebreaker.
“I played my best match in a Grand Slam tournament,” the eighth-seeded Wawrinka said, quite a statement considering he won the championship at the 2014 Australian Open, “and my best match on clay.”
This is his 11th appearance at Roland Garros, equalling the most in the professional era, which began in 1968, for a man getting to his first semifinal in Paris.
“We (knew) he can do this,” Federer said. “It’s just nice for him now, even talking for him, to string it together on a big occasion like this at the French, where I always thought he’d have his best chance to do well.”
The quarter-finals on the other half of the men’s draw are Wednesday, with a real blockbuster looming: No. 1 Novak Djokovic against nine-time champion Rafael Nadal. No. 3 Andy Murray plays No. 7 David Ferrer in the other quarterfinal.