TENNIS WIMBLEDON CHAMPIONSHIPS: CE N'EST pas vrai, whispered a French journalist on Centre Court. "It's not true." It was true. Sometimes the gods disown their own and for four dismal sets Roger Federer raged at why his colleagues in the tennis heavens had abandoned him. Yesterday Federer, at two sets and 0-40 down on his serve in the third set, had one foot out of the Wimbledon Championships to the virtually unknown Alejandro Falla.
For the most part, the crowd was loving it. They shouted at the wrong times. They stood up and cheered. They clapped mistakes and hooted at Falla’s temerity to unsettle the player who is hoping to equal Pete Sampras seven Wimbledon titles. The opening match of the championships was played with the intensity and fortune swings of a final as Federer hit forehands six feet wide and sliced backhands into the base of the net. Whatever had he done to anger the deities?
But when the crowd began to realise Falla was now more likely to depart an heroic loser and not the architect of an ignominious departure for Federer, the fickle ones changed their tune. As the champion’s frailties were exposed and exploited over three flustered hours by the Colombian left-hander, clubbing Bambi to oblivion would have been more popular around the most famous grass arena in the world than Federer making an exit in the first round.
“If you are used to being two sets down it’s normal,” said Federer. “But for me at Wimbledon it’s not. It didn’t feel great, to be honest. My serve was on and off. He took advantage in the beginning. I’ve always struggled here in the first set on opening day. I did get lucky today.”
Only twice before in Wimbledon’s 133-year history has the reigning champion departed after the first match, first in 1967 when Manuel Santana was beaten by Charlie Passerell and more recently, when Lleyton Hewitt coughed up his title to the serving of towering Ivo Karlovic from somewhere above the low cloud cover. That said, in the early years, the more gentle times of William Renshaw, the reigning champion didn’t show until the rest of the field had sorted out who was going to face him in the final.
Falla’s claim to fame before Wimbledon began was to lose to Federer 6-1, 6-2 when they met a week ago in Halle and in the previous three meetings before Federer had come through easily.
Still, the 16 times Grand Slam champion had only ever come back from two sets down five times in his career. Make that six now, Federer triumphing with a whoop and a relieved fist pump 5-7, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(1), 6-0 to the man whose name is pronounced “Fire” in Bogota.
Falla’s father, Jorge, is a coach working in Naples, Florida. His price has just doubled.
“He played well. In the third I was down love 40. At that time I think was the toughest,” added Federer. “He played really well and I struggled early on. In the fourth I started to feel my back hand was getting there and I was beginning to pick his serve. That really rattled me for a long time. Thank God, I got it.”
Poring over the anatomy of a troubled season where he has not made a final since winning the Australian Open in January, Federer felt something was owing to him.
“I guess I’ve been unlucky enough this season already so I suppose I needed a little luck,” he said. “This was a kind of a match I needed. My whole game was in sort of disarray. One thing you can do is push the luck on your side and that’s something I haven’t been doing the last months.
“He plays very solid and very uncomfortable. I don’t think it happened in many years, six at least, that I’ve come back from two sets down in the first round. It was frustrating, to say the least. It’s not something I’m used to.”
Federer won’t like the stats of his match. He earned 14 break points and converted just five, three of those in the final 6-0 set. Falla broke Federer’s serve once in the first set and served out for 7-6 and added the second when he broke again for 4-3 and held his nerve for the two-set lead.
It was then the Swiss went to the precipice and peered over the edge. It jolted him and from 4-4 and 0-40 down on his serve in the third set, he fought back to win the next two, finally finding his groove in the fifth set.
Last year’s beaten finalist, Andy Roddick, came through against Rajeev Ram 6-3, 6-2, 6-2. Federer going out would have made the American’s side of the draw somewhat easier but Roddick, who has lost three times in Wimbledon finals, at least remains in the draw.
Croatian 11th seed Marian Cilic, could not do that and departed to Germany’s Florian Mayer 6-2, 6-4, 7-6.
Lleyton Hewitt looked like undoing his confidence-building stint in Halle. Felling Federer there, he dropped the first set 5-7 before rallying to a four-set win over Argentina’s Maximo Gonzalez. The first chapter was an aberration of sorts and the former champion, showing the competitive qualities that have earned him a reputation as one of the game’s best scrappers, rifled through the next three sets 6-0, 6-2, 6-2.
