Roger Federer was just one set away from his earliest exit at a Grand Slam since 2004 but he managed to pull himself together and fight back to beat Gilles Simon over five sets at the French Open. The Swiss former number one won the fourth-round encounter 6-1 4-6 2-6 6-2 6-3, which extends his run of consecutive Grand Slam quarter-finals to 36. It also was his 900th career win.
Things looked hopeless for Federer as he trailed two sets to one but he put in a dominant performance in the last two sets to set up a quarter-final clash against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. The first set was easy for Federer, won it 6-1, but then he took a tumble while sliding for a backhand in the sixth game of the following set. "I didn't hurt myself or anything," Federer said after the match. "But maybe I did lose that touch of confidence for a little bit, and then I was out of the match there for a bit. But I think more credit to him, because I wasn't bothered by the fall in any way, actually. If anything, it was mentally, or maybe it gave him a mental boost. Who knows what it was."
Simon, aged 28, had lost his last three matches against Federer, including a 6-1 6-2 demolition job in Rome last month, but now he played with a more aggressive style and managed to move within one set of a huge victory. But Federer bounced back, broke for 4-2 in the fourth set and then claimed two consecutive games and the set. Then he snatched another three consecutive games in the final set and it was as good as over.
"I'm happy I found a way and took the right decisions and was able to sort of tidy up my play a little bit, not spray that many unforced errors, even though I don't think it was that bad," Federer added. "You're always going to hit some against Gilles because he does a great job retrieving. Overall I'm very happy. I stayed calm under pressure, and it's always fun being part of matches like this."
Let's see how the outright odds for the top five favourites at Bet365 look like at the beginning of the final week of the tournament:
Rafael Nadal - 1/1
Novak Djokovic - 6/4
Roger Federer - 7/1
David Ferrer - 10/1
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga - 18/1
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Comments (1)
mico.femic.1
11/06/14, 12:11:59 AM
Novak Djokovic is number one and now there is no longer competition , I can only try but in vain . simply on the machinery, and animals on the ground and nobody...
Novak Djokovic is number one and now there is no longer competition , I can only try but in vain . simply on the machinery, and animals on the ground and nobody put nothing he could . messing with the players , although sometimes loosen them a little will and hope. :) Federer was once the best but now no more chance against Djokovic machines , is simply invincible
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