By Richard Pagliaro | Tuesday, June 4, 2019
Roger Federer showed strong improvisational skills subduing buddy Stan Wawrinka to reach his eighth Roland Garros semifinal and set up a showdown with rival Rafael Nadal.
Photo credit: Getty
Tennis has been called physical chess. Roger Federer's balletic blitz sparked a check-mate moment.
The spinning stretch stab volley Federer pulled off in the fourth-set tie breaker today eliciting applause from Stan Wawrinka and some astonishment from fans packed into Court Suzanne Lenglen.
Federer: Fearlessness Key To Topping Nadal
Improvisational skills and a knack for the timely attack propelled Federer past his sometime doubles partner, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4, into his eighth career Roland Garros semifinal.
"I'm very happy, you know, number one, to be back in another semifinals of a Grand Slam," Federer said. "It hasn't happened in the last year or so. I had some tough losses in fourth rounds or quarters.
"So from that standpoint, I exceeded my expectations here. After missing the French for so many years, it's nice to be back in the semis, so that's a great feeling. And the match was obviously particular in many levels against Stan, who I know so, so well, and he knows me, too. So it was always going to be tough."
An entertaining victory sets up Episode 39 of the iconic Roger vs. Rafa rivalry.
The 2009 champion Federer will face off against 11-time champion Rafael Nadal in Friday's blockbuster semifinal.
Here's our Top 5 Takeaways from Federer's quarterfinal triumph today.
1. Fed's Flight Plan
If you thought Federer would try to exploit a Wawrinka's weary legs after the 2015 champion fought off Stefanos Tsitsipas in a five hour, nine-minute epic by extending rallies, then you haven't been watching the Swiss stylist operate in his first appearance in Paris since 2015.
True, Federer drop-shotted Wawrinka early, even growing enamored with the drop-shot-return during one stretch, but Federer played his most dynamic tennis today as he's spent much of this tournament: Striking off the front foot and trying to press the attack.
At 37-years-old, Federer still glides forward and reads the passing-shot angles better than most on the Tour. Streaking forward, Federer won 41 of 60 trips to net compared to Wawrinka, who won 9 of 24 net points.
2. You Gotta Believe
Superb transition skills are a Federer asset.
It's one thing attacking when leading 40-love, it's entirely a different experience to serve-and-volley on second serves as Federer did several times today.
A willingness to press forward at crunch time, including his final match point, made Federer unpredictable and denied Wawrinka rhythm and repetition. Federer must mix it up against Nadal and attack with urgency and belief as well, which is difficult to sustain against the left-handers dipping, devious topspin.
"It's how do you get best effort in practice," Federer said. "You know, how do you inspire yourself to travel the world. And then when it comes to the crunch like this, when you do come to the net, you have to do it with a purpose.
"You can't just do it because somebody told you to do it and you think it's the right thing. You have to come in there believing."
3. Steely Stan
Wawrinka seems to swallow pain like energy paste and turn it into fuel.
While his legs and lungs had to be feeling the stress from his epic five hour, nine-minute conquest of Stefanos Tsitsipas in the fourth round, Wawrinka stayed in step with Federer for much of this match.
Break-point pressure brought out the best in Stan in this tournament. Wawrinka, who denied all eight break points he faced in the final set edging Tsitsipas, fought off 16 of 18 break points today, frustrating Federer at times with his flair for the big strike while down break points.
Less than two years after undergoing two knee surgeries, Wawrinka has worked his way back to contender status. The 28th-ranked Swiss scored his 500th Tour-level win over Grigor Dimitrov in the third round, fought off Tsitsipas in the longest match of the year in the fourth round then pushed his buddy Federer to four sets in a performance that will propel Wawrnka back inside the Top 20.
"For me, what's the most positive things is what happen physically also, to have played three days in a row with five hours, my longest match in my career, so basically, and still be able to play great tennis today, more than three hours," Wawrinka said. "This is really good for the future. This show me that I have done the right things. Again, today it was tough match. I lost it against the best player ever to play this sport.
"I'm more positive than sad or disappointed with the result, because I know everything I have done to come back to that level. I know also how I left here last year when down in the ranking, like, 260 or something. I'm going to be back in the top 20. For me, yeah, I'm happy with that."
4. Backhand Strength
Because Wawrinka is more comfortable operating from several feet behind the baseline permitting time to unleash his expansive swings, the Federer slice backhand was important today. Often, Federer showed a willingness to stand and trade topspin backhands against Wawrinka's wondrous one-hander.
Much has been made of the fact, this is Federer's first French Open playing with the larger Wilson racquet. Today, his backhand was tested and he showed true conviction in that shot. Obviously, the backhand strength will be imperative when Federer faces a fusillade of twisting topspin forehands from Nadal to his one-handed backhand.
5. Rivalry Revelry
The decision to play Paris came partly from Federer's desire for match play ahead of Wimbledon.
That choice has led us to the treasure of a blockbuster battle between iconic rivals.
Nadal leads their head-to-head series, 23 to 15, including winning all five of their Roland Garros encounters.
The third-seeded Federer rides a five-match winning streak against Nadal into their 39th encounter and is reveling in this rivalry reunion much like the rest of the tennis world.
Facing Nadal on Court Philippe Chatrier can be both uncomfortable and exhilarating and Federer says he's looking forward to the experience.
"It's never natural against any lefty, Rafa or another lefty," Federer said. "It's just everything changes. We play 80% of the time against righties. And when we play a lefty, it's just a different match.
"It's interesting match. I used to hate it. Now I love it, you know, because it's a huge challenge against those guys, and he's the best one that I ever faced against. I'm looking forward to the test."