Is this Federer’s tournament this year?
Roar Guru
By David Wiseman, 4 Jun 2009 David Wiseman is a Roar Guru
- Tagged:
- French Open, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, samantha stoser, Serena Williams, Tennis
Roger Federer, of Switzerland, kisses the championship trophy after winning the men's finals championship over Andy Murray, of Britain, at the U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York, Monday, Sept. 8, 2008. AP Photo/Charles Krupa
So we’re down to the pointy end of the French Open. Could this be the year that Roger Federer finally wins it? It looks like it. He has never lost a Grand Slam final to anyone other than Rafael Nadal.
Now that Nadal is out, only Juan Martin del Potro and the winner of the other semi-final stay in his way.
The other semi final pits Robin Soderling against Fernando Gonzalez. Both are good clay courters but it would appear unlikely if either had what it takes to dismantle Federer in a Grand Slam final.
Federer has made the final four of the last 20 Grand Slams he has played in. That simply isn’t normal. This is the first Grand Slam semi final for del Potro so regardless of how good he is, he is still leagues out of his depth.
It was all such an anti-climax regarding Nadal.
He had never tasted defeat at Roland Garros and no one thought that when it came it was going to be in the fourth round against Soderling. Everyone seemed stunned, especially the media. Instead of there being wild hysteria, the response was muted. Sport is always about ironies and you can’t escape this one.
People thought that Nadal was a chance to win the Grand Slam. No one thought this hopes would be extinguished at the French Open.
Over on the ladies’ side, Samantha Stosur waves the flag vigorously for Australia. She seems to have snuck up on people as she has cut a swathe through the draw.
She has had more prowess as a doubles player and has won two Grand Slam doubles titles including the French. Now she has a great chance of making the final.
In her way is Svetlana Kuznetsova, who is a notorious choker. Not quite in the mold of Jana Novotna but then again who is.
She did her best to lose her quarter-final to Serena Williams but somehow got through. Last year she was in the same position where she got steamrolled by Dinara Safina in the semi-finals.
The form that Safina is in, it’s hard to see anyone getting in her way; even less so following the departure of Serena Williams.
Serena Williams may not regret much but she may regret questioning Safina’s credentials as the number one ranked player. Since she did that, the Russian has been virtually unstoppable.
Enjoy sports? Enjoy a bargain? All Sports Online has your favourite sporting brands at up to 70% off. Online only, premium quality sporting goods and merchandise at discounted prices. Get a deal now.
The Crowd Says (6) | Page 1 of Comments
Have Your Say
Do you have what it takes to become a sports writer? Write for the roar
Other Sports articles
- Victoria Azarenka vs Maria Sharapova: Australian Open women’s final live scores, blog (89)
- Why I won’t be watching the Sharapova-Azarenka final (51)
- The sporting fallacy of the Olympic ‘Games’ (45)
- Djokovic vs Nadal was great, but do we need six-hour finals? (36)
- Sonny Bill needs to start boxing full time (36)
- Sonny Bill looking sharp for his first real test (29)
- Sonny Bill wins title in first round (25)
- London’s Olympic Games have a long way to come (9)
- New champ Williams looking to next fight (5)
- Aust and GB aim to convert 4ths to bronze
- Young pitcher signs big deal with Red Sox (7)
- World Cup Darts heartbreak in Hamburg (3)
- Mayweather and Pacquiao have shamed boxing (12)
- Will Tom Brady’s legacy be affected by one drop? (19)
- London’s Olympic Games have a long way to come (9)
- World Cup Darts heartbreak in Hamburg (3)
- Mayweather and Pacquiao have shamed boxing (12)
- Will Tom Brady’s legacy be affected by one drop? (19)
- Sonny Bill needs to start boxing full time (46)
- Lachlan Murdoch squashing FTA sport for Fox’s benefit (4)
- Sonny Bill Williams vs Clarence Tillman III: Live updates, blog [video] (182)
- Explore:
- French Open, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, samantha stoser, Serena Williams, Tennis
LeftArmSpinner said | June 4th 2009 @ 9:09am | Report comment
lets hope so. one for the good guys!!!!
ohtani's jacket, said | June 4th 2009 @ 9:35am | Report comment
The Nadal loss was interesting.
It’s the type of thing that every tennis writer likes to foreshadow, but no-one wanted to stick their neck out.
Söderling’s not the guy that anyone would’ve picked, because he’s never been past the third round at a Grand Slam and all three of his career titles have been on carpet. In the end, the shocking thing was how well Söderling played and how little Nadal had to resist it.
Now that Söderling has beaten Davydenko and made the semis, I think it’s somewhat less of a shock. RG is much quicker this year and Söderling’s in the form of his life.
Federer will have been very, very happy with his performance last night. Experience should be enough to get him through this GS. González is the only player who’s ever beaten Federer and has a number of minor clay court titles to his name, but when they met in the final of the 2007 Australian Open it was straight sets.
WIthout Nadal, Djokovic and Murray, it may be straight sets from now on for Fed. A bit of a throwback.
Andrew Jones said | June 4th 2009 @ 11:04am | Report comment
I’m with LAS – and the easier he does it, the better!
Keith said | June 4th 2009 @ 11:32am | Report comment
I wouldn’t mind Gonzo winning. I had one of the best live sporting experiences of my life last year at the Australian Open watching his epic with Gasquet. Love the fact that he’ll dive at anything within 10 km of himself on a tennis court.
Rory said | June 4th 2009 @ 11:32am | Report comment
I hope he cruises through, too, and then does that same at Wimbledon, which I think he probably will. It will silence a lot of those who have been quick to write him off as finished. If he wins a lot of people will say he was lucky Nadal and Djokovic got knocked out, but doesn’t that just prove his greatness – for five years he’s made at least the semis of every Grand Slam. Won most of them and made the final in nearly all the others. If he never won another GS that record would stand on its own. For all of Nadal’s intensity he still makes an early exit every now and then. Fed’s head to head deficit against Nadal is to Nadal’s credit but it is really more of an anomoly than proof, as some think, that Nadal is superior. He’s more of a bogey man. And if they had happened to have played in the final of RG this year you can bet Nadal would have been feeling a power of pressure at having to beat Fed at the French for the fifth year in a row to take the record of five straight, two weeks after losing to him on clay for the first time in ages. I’d also like to see the fallacy that Fed is no good on clay put to bed.
There’s an in-form Del Potro to get past first, though.
Malibu77 said | June 4th 2009 @ 12:50pm | Report comment
Jana Novotna’s “choking” always seems to get a mention, but didn’t it only happen once (Wimbledon final 1993 vs Steffi Graf)? Sure that was a shocker but she did come back and win the title in 1998.
Always feel she is a bit hard done by.
What about Greg Norman? He has lost all 4 majors in play-offs, blew a 6 shot lead to Faldo in the 1996 Masters and led into the final round of all 4 majors in 1986 only to win one. Does this qualify as “choking”?