Come Sunday night, Roger Federer should be buying Robin Soderling a drink, a car, something after doing the biggest favour the second seeded champion could have hoped for: conquering Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros.
With Nadal out of the tournament, this gives Federer the opportunity to take out the only Grand Slam he has not won and complete his career Grand Slam.
Not that Federer will have it his own way. He still needs to play some good tennis to lift the trophy at tournament’s end.
His likely run to the final is:
Haas
Monfils
Tsonga or Del Potro
then Murray in the final
He’s a very good chance of getting to the final. But winning it will be another matter. Murray has had the wood on Federer, winning their last two clashes. However, Federer smashed Murray in three straight sets in the US Open Final last year at Flushing Meadows.
Federer has not had it all his own way in this tournament, either, giving up a set in his previous two rounds. Jose Acasuso pushed him in four sets and then he gave up a set to local player, and 32nd seed, Paul-Henri Mathieu.
As a tennis junkie, I have always been a fan of Federer. He’s a throw back to a day when backhands were still one handed and you served and volleyed on grass.
I’ll be cheering him all the way.
Choppy
Guest
Rory, you got the call on Murray right, he crashed and burnt as well as Davydenko. I saw a little bit of Murray's game and he was just outclassed. Am tipping Del Potro and Federer tonight (but Federer will have to improve on his match against Huss. In the Ladies, I'm tipping Stosur and Kurnetsova to both win tonight.
Rory
Guest
I'm giving up tipping
ohtani's jacket,
Guest
"Nadal or not, it will be a great achievement if Federer gets this." Absolutely. The draw has opened up for all eight guys, which makes it one of the more exciting Grand Slams in a while. The pressure on Federer will be telling. If he loses RG from here, it's far worse than losing to Nadal in the final. In the space of one match, he went from having a crack to being tournament favourite, when really he's still at the stage of trying to make the semis. He hasn't played his best tennis yet and he'll need to if he's to make it through to the final. Most of his losses in recent times have come after he wins the first set, but in the past two matches he's lost the first set and had to fight back. He's not really the Federer of old, but still a wonderful, exciting player to watch.
Rory
Guest
Still a tough road ahead for the old champ. Monfils has every chance and will be sliding around making improbable shots from metres behind the baseline. Probably then Del Potro, who's sheer size makes court coverage easy. He will be tougher than when Federer flogged him in the Australian open in January. Don't know about Murray yet. It will be a massive achievement for him to make the final, and if he did you'd have to rate him close to favourite for Wimbledon and then he'd be well into making a run at the No 1 spot over the next 12 months. Davydenko is the one to watch. He's made the semi's at RG before and until a recent slump held onto the no 5 spot for about 3 years. He doesn't go away and will be hard to beat from here. Unless the Russian bookies have their money on his opponent. Nadal or not, it will be a great achievement if Federer gets this.
Choppy
Guest
Ben, Hass missed a sitter of a forehand volley in that game that I'm sure was a game point for him. It seemed a different match once Federer got that 3rd set, apart from a slight hiccup in the 5th he was coasting. You're right Ben, you would never know the score of Federer's matches by his demeanour, he is just ruthless on big points and I'm sure his calmness is a big part of that. I thought Sampras would be the best player I ever got to watch, but I think Federer has probably gone past him, especially if he manages to complete the career grand slam which Sampras could never do.
Benjamin Conkey
Editor
Haas was 2-sets up AND he had a break point to go 5-3 in the third set (which we didn't see because the Fox Sports satellite played up). If he got that break, he probably goes onto win in straight sets, and everyone lays the boot into Federer. The thing that impresses me most about Federer is his lack of emotion when he's down. It must confuse his opponents. I mean, Federer would have been so frustrated, but he didn't show it. He almost looked like he didn't care about the situation. But the way he stepped it up in the final two sets was sensational.
Andrew Jones
Guest
Let's hope so Brett, and Chop - I too love Roger!! cheers AJ
Brett McKay
Guest
Nice one Chop, although Tommy Haas must have given him a bit of a scare overnight, going two sets up. It could well be the scare that sends him home with the cup.