Roger Federer’s into the semifinals of the US Open, but he had to call on all his vast experience to eventually down Frenchman Gael Monfils 4-6, 3-6, 6-4, 7-,5 6-2 in exactly 200 minutes.
It was the ninth time Federer has come from two sets down, the last at Wimbledon 2011 against another Frenchman Julien Benneteau in the third round.
Had you been watching the first two sets, you would have had to admit Monfils was playing right out of his skin, and literally unbeatable.
Monfils served like a man possessed, his forehands were explosive, either down the line or across court, while his backhands weren’t shabby either.
It was the Monfils’ pressure that forced Federer into 13 unforced errors in the first set, and again in the second – his 26 total were usually at critical times, while Monfils’ 18 were early in most games and not so devastating.
The third set saw Federer regain some ground and confidence. He broke Monfils twice for the first time in the match, and then was broken himself, but held on to take out the set 7-5.
The capacity crowd loved every minute of it, and from the fourth set on turned from basically supporting Monfils while he was on a roll to getting right behind Federer on a massive comeback trail.
And the crowd was loud on every point as both players didn’t disappoint.
At 5-4 to Monfils, Federer was down two match points, but two booming forehands and two great serves evened the score at five-apiece.
Monfils looked a tad shattered at not closing in on his first Grand Slam semifinal, and that was the end of his bid.
Federer, now buoyant, hit his ground strokes with immense power and accuracy behind heavy serving, and upped the ante by coming to the net.
Federer 2014 has become a regular visitor to the net, with his match stat of 53 winners from 74 visits – an impressive 74 per cent success rate.
By the time the fifth and deciding set came around, Federer would have been at unbackable odds and he raced to a 5-1 lead in a hurry.
Monfils put in a token service to grab another game, but Federer sealed the win to love, on his serve.
So exit Gael Monfils to high praise from Federer, who will meet the tall, heavy-hitting Croat Marin Cilic in the semifinals, while top seed Novak Djokovic will do battle with Kei Nishikori, who has created history by being the first from Japan to qualify for a Grand Slam semi since 1918.
And in this ever-changing era of tennis, the four semi-finalists are all coached by former Slammers.
Boris Becker, now 46, is in Djokovic’s corner. Becker won six Slams and at 17 became the youngest ever to take the title at Wimbledon in 1985.
Nishikori is coached by 42-year-old Michael Chang, the youngest at 17 years and four months to win the French Slam in 1979.
Cilic is coached by the big hitting leftie Goran Ivanesevic, also 42, who was runner up at Wimbledon in 1992 to Andre Agassi, and both 1994 and 1998 to Pete Sampras before winning at the home of tennis in 2001, ranked 125 in the world. He was the first wildcard to win, downing Australian Pat Rafter in five tough sets.
And that leaves Roger Federer, who is coached by 48-year-old Swede Stefan Edberg, winner of six Slams and one of the great blokes of world tennis. Edberg is to be credited with getting Federer into the net more often, which could yet engineer a record 18th Slam and sixth US Open for the former world number one.
Former Wimbledon champion, double grand slam winner and Australian Open finalist Garbine Muguruza has announced her retirement from tennis at the age of 30.…
Rafael Nadal has hailed the brilliance of Alex de Minaur, calling him "a great player" after the Australian forced the Spanish legend to say…
The clay season promises to be one of high level and tight margins. With the Monte Carlo open just around the corner, it will…
In incredible scenes, defending champion Carlos Alcaraz's quarter-final clash with Alexander Zverev at Indian Wells was halted abruptly due to a "bee invasion." Less…
Marathon man Jordan Thompson has finally clinched his first ATP Tour title, with the Australian upsetting Norwegian Casper Ruud to lift the trophy in…
Alex de Minaur has earned the perfect 25th birthday present, booking a place in the final of the Rotterdam Open with an emphatic revenge…
