Federer dispatches Ferrero
Two-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer brushed aside Spain’s Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-3 6-4 7-6 in the fourth round today?
The match might have finished in the gathering gloom but Federer’s game was as bright as anything seen at this tournament so far.
Not vintage yet perhaps, but then it was only the fourth round and better to save your most imperious form for the business end of the tournament.
Ferrero was a tricky opponent. He is a former French Open champion. He has been a US Open finalist. He was a genuine threat.
He was also determined to prove his rehabilitation was complete after emerging from 18 months of injury and health problems, which included a debilitating bout of chicken pox.
Federer needed to be a man on top of his game and he was for the most part as he completed the 33rd consecutive grass-court triumph of his career.
That is a record eclipsed only by the great Bjorn Borg with 41 victories and that is a measure of the tennis company Federer now keeps.
Ominously for the rest, after his victory Federer also marked the various parts of his game and supplied a tick in all the appropriate boxes.
“I’m serving really consistent,” said Federer. “My movement is pretty good as well. I wish I could serve and volley more.
“Last year I played better than expected but my goal this year is Wimbledon and being number one in the world. I have lots of dreams left to chase.
“I always try to show the people I can do it over and over again. I’m really happy how I’ve handled the pressure over the last few years and today I played a really solid match.”
So he did and if there was one belated cry from the crowd of ‘C’mon Henman’ as Federer surged to victory then it was merely an attempt to inject a little humour into a match of relentless baseline hitting.
The difference with Federer, however, is that he can mix it up. He can introduce serve and volley with devastating effect at the appropriate time and that proved crucial.
“He played so good,” was Ferrero’s verdict. “He’s playing with lots of confidence and no mistakes and holds his concentration all the time.”
Indeed, on this form it appears inevitable the world number one, who faces another Spaniard Fernando Gonzalez in the quarter-final, is nearing a hat-trick of men’s singles titles.
He has lost just one set this tournament, against Nicolas Kiefer in the third round, and apart from tonight’s third set tie-breaker the Spaniard rarely looked like troubling him.
True, Federer did have to save a break point in the ninth game of the first set but he produced a powerful smash before serving out the set.
It was always going to be a struggle for Ferrero from that point, especially for a man who had lost his last three matches against Federer.
Ferrero, however, used the pace of Federer’s serve to manufacture some spectacular returns in the second set, but as well as he was playing the champion continued to conjure up something better.
He broke the Ferrero serve this time in the fifth game with the aid of a blistering forehand which landed on the line and again it proved crucial, Federer serving out comfortably to take the set.
With Federer producing huge backhands and mixing up his baseline play with penetrating volleys many might have collapsed at that point but Ferrero suddenly began to play some of the best tennis of the match, prolonging the rallies and matching Federer for hitting power from the baseline.
Errors eventually began to seep from the Federer racket and while Ferrero saved four break points on his serve in the third game, he also had a break point on the Federer delivery in the eighth.
He could not take it and Federer eventually forced the break in the 11th game with a spectacular backhand.
It looked all over but the champion promptly experienced an inexplicable blip, netting an easy volley and his first double fault of the match to allow Ferrero to take the set to a tie-break.
With the light fading there was a possibility the match would not have finished tonight if Ferrero could have taken the match into a fourth set.
That was not part of the champion’s plan and while he continued to make the odd error, Federer eventually reimposed his superiority to take a hard-fought breaker 8-6 and the match.
Not quite perfection, but champion stuff all the same.
The All England Lawn Tennis Championship, Wimbledon
Men’s Singles, Round 4:
(1) R Federer (Swi) bt (23) J C Ferrero (Spa) 6-3 6-4 7-6(8-6)
(21) F Gonzalez (Chi) bt (31) M Youzhny (Rus) 7-6(7-3) 7-6(7-5) 6-3
(3) L Hewitt (Aus) bt (24) T Dent (USA) 6-4 6-4 6-7(7-9) 6-3
(26) F Lopez (Spa) bt (10) M Ancic (Cro) 6-4 6-4 6-2
(12) T Johansson (Swe) bt M Mirnyi (Blr) 6-4 7-5 6-4
(18) D Nalbandian (Arg) bt (27) R Gasquet (Fra) 6-4 7-6(7-3) 6-0
(9) S Grosjean (Fra) bt D Tursunov (Rus) 6-4 6-7(5-7) 6-3 3-6 6-1
(2) A Roddick (USA) bt (15) G Coria (Arg) 6-3 7-6(7-1) 6-4
Women’s Singles, Round 4:
(1) L Davenport (USA) bt (15) K Clijsters (Bel) 6-3 6-7(4-7) 6-3
(5) S Kuznetsova (Rus) bt M Maleeva (Bul) 6-4 6-3
(3) A Mauresmo (Fra) bt (13) E Likhovtseva (Rus) 6-4 6-0
(9) A Myskina (Rus) bt (6) E Dementieva (Rus) 1-6 7-6(11-9) 7-5
(12) M Pierce (Fra) bt (26) F Pennetta (Ita) 6-3 6-1
(14) V Williams (USA) bt J Craybas (USA) 6-0 6-2
(8) N Petrova (Rus) bt K Peschke (Cze) 6-7(5-7) 7-6(9-7) 6-3
(2) M Sharapova (Rus) bt (16) N Dechy (Fra) 6-4 6-2
Men’s Doubles, Round 2:
(1) J Bjorkman (Swe) and M Mirnyi (Blr) bt A Fisher (Aus) and C Haggard (Rsa) 6-0 6-3 5-7 4-6 6-4
(13) J Knowle (Aut) and J Melzer (Aut) bt V Hanescu (Rom) and A Pavel (Rom) 7-6(7-2) 7-6(7-5) 7-5
R Schuettler (Ger) and A Waske (Ger) bt J Hernych (Cze) and T Zib (Cze) 6-4 6-7(1-7) 6-7(2-7) 6-2 7-5
(5) L Paes (Ind) and N Zimonjic (Ser) bt R Leach (USA) and T Parrott (USA) 3-6 6-3 6-4 7-6(7-3)
Men’s Doubles, Round 3:
(3) M Knowles (Bah) and M Llodra (Fra) bt I Karlovic (Cro) and R Wassen (Ned) 6-4 6-4 5-7 6-4
D Hrbaty (Svk) and M Mertinak (Svk) bt X Malisse (Bel) and O Rochus (Bel) 6-1 6-3 6-3
(2) B Bryan (USA) and M Bryan (USA) bt (15) J Erlich (Isr) and A Ram (Isr) 6-3 7-6(7-0) 6-3
Women’s Doubles, Round 3:
(8) A Groenefeld (Ger) and M Navratilova (USA) bt (10) S Asagoe (Jpn) and K Srebotnik (Slo) 6-3 6-3
(11) B Stewart (Aus) and S Stosur (Aus) bt (6) J Husarova (Svk) and C Martinez (Spa) 7-6(10-8) 6-7(5-7) 6-1
(7) D Hantuchova (Svk) and A Sugiyama (Jpn) bt (9) A Medina Garrigues (Spa) and D Safina (Rus) 6-2 6-1
(2) C Black (Zim) and L Huber (Rsa) bt (15) E Loit (Fra) and B Strycova (Cze) 6-1 7-5
Mixed Doubles, Round 1:
L Arnold (Arg) and E Gagliardi (Swi) bt A Murray (Gbr) and S Peer (Isr) 6-3 6-4
Mixed Doubles, Round 2:
M Hood (Arg) and G Dulko (Arg) bt (1) B Bryan (USA) and R Stubbs (Aus) 6-4 3-6 7-5
(14) D Hrbaty (Svk) and E Likhovtseva (Rus) bt G Oliver (USA) and M Kirilenko (Rus) 6-7(6-8) 6-3 6-2
P Hanley (Aus) and T Perebiynis (Ukr) bt (11) J Palmer (USA) and C Morariu (USA) 2-6 6-4 7-5
(7) L Friedl (Cze) and J Husarova (Svk) bt S Aspelin (Swe) and S Mirza (Ind) 6-2 6-4
(4) K Ullyett (Zim) and L Huber (Rsa) bt M Kohlmann (Ger) and A Myskina (Rus) WalkOver
(16) A Ram (Isr) and C Martinez (Spa) bt C Suk (Cze) and J Jankovic (Ser) WalkOver
(10) N Zimonjic (Ser) and K Srebotnik (Slo) bt B MacPhie (USA) and A Spears (USA) 6-2 5-7 6-4
(13) J Knowle (Aut) and A Groenefeld (Ger) bt J Erlich (Isr) and B Stewart (Aus) 6-3 6-7(5-7) 6-2
(3) J Bjorkman (Swe) and L Raymond (USA) bt A Lopez Moron (Spa) and A Medina Garrigues (Spa) 6-2 6-1
(8) M Knowles (Bah) and V Williams (USA) bt T Perry (Aus) and E Callens (Bel) 6-7(6-8) 6-4 6-4
(12) O Rochus (Bel) and K Clijsters (Bel) bt A Fisher (Aus) and J Kostanic (Cro) 6-1 6-3
M Garcia (Arg) and M Santangelo (Ita) bt (15) M Damm (Cze) and K Peschke (Cze) 4-6 6-1 6-2
M Bhupathi (Ind) and M Pierce (Fra) bt (2) W Black (Zim) and C Black (Zim) 6-3 6-4.
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