TENNIS:ROGER FEDERER went out of Wimbledon yesterday at the quarter-final stage, the only one of the big four to fail to make it through to tomorrow's semi-finals. What this means is that if he still intends to match Pete Sampras' record of seven victories in the singles championship, he will have to win the title after his 30th birthday, a feat no one has achieved since 1975, when the 32-year-old Arthur Ashe junk-balled Jimmy Connors, 12 years his junior, to distraction and defeat.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the French heavyweight who plays with his emotions on his sleeve, came from two sets down to beat the great Swiss champion 3-6, 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 in a contest that held Centre Court enthralled. At just under three-and-a-half hours it was hardly a marathon, and the 26-year-old Tsonga is only three years younger than his opponent, but the longer the contest went on the more the underdog seemed to benefit from having fewer big-match miles on his clock.
Although Federer is the owner of a record 16 grand slam titles, the last of them came almost a year-and-a-half ago, when he beat Andy Murray in the final of the Australian Open. Six tournaments have gone by without a success for the player who won 12 of 18 between 2003 and 2007.
A year ago this month, after 285 weeks at number one, he dropped a place in the world rankings, shortly before going out in the Wimbledon quarter-finals to Tomas Berdych. Now he stands at number three in the world, and the decline may not be reversible.
Last night, however, he was disinclined to entertain the notion that we may be witnessing the end of an era.
“I don’t think so,” he said. “It wasn’t a shocker, a second-round loss in straight sets, some stupid match I played. It was a great match, I think, from both sides. I really did play well and I also thought Jo played an amazing match, as good as I have seen him play for such a long time. You can only respect that. That is why there is no reason to look too far ahead.
“It is pretty tough for anyone right now to win grand slams,” he added. “But I think I definitely can. I wouldn’t be here if that wasn’t the case.”
In the final 36 years ago, Connors had expected to outrun and outmuscle his much older opponent, which is exactly what Tsonga managed to do yesterday. In no fewer than 178 grand slam matches, Federer had taken a lead of two sets to love up and never failed to win. At the 179th time of asking he found himself falling to defeat at the hands of a player whose speed, power and unbreakable tenacity proved irresistible.
Federer was off to a fine start, going 3-0 up after capturing Tsonga’s big serve at the first time of asking – although he was not to know that this would be his only break point of the entire match.
Anna Wintour, the editor of American Vogue, was there to support her friend, applauding his winners from the royal box in trademark bob, giant sunglasses and summery Prada stripes, while refraining from acknowledging the winners that came from the Frenchman’s racket with increasing frequency.
Not even her distinctive aura could help Federer to prevail.
Federer waited until the winner had completed his celebratory dance across the grass before the men left the court together, bathed in appreciative applause. The loser’s post-match equanimity suggested that such a defeat, on such an occasion in a place that was once his kingdom, no longer hurts quite as badly as it might once have done.
“I was close,” he said. “You know, I had my chances. He came up with some good stuff. So it was tough.”
Tsonga’s success was a victory for brain as much as brawn, and even more so for his reserves of spirit and courage. There was something remorseless about the manner in which, having fallen behind in a first set notable as much for his own anxious imprecision as for Federer’s velvety touch, he refused to yield. Game by game, he imposed himself on the match, provoking an increasing stream of errors and gratefully accepting others that were unforced.
“I beat Roger Federer in the quarter-final on this big court,” Tsonga said, with a wondering note in his gentle voice, as if by saying it out loud he could ink it into the record. “For sure it will be one of the best memories of my career. He is the biggest champion in my sport, and grass is his best surface. He is the best player in the world and I’m so happy to have beaten him.”
So once again Murray was upstaged on Centre Court. On Monday it was the all-stops-out twilight battle between Rafael Nadal and Juan Martin del Potro which teased the crowd’s emotions in a way Murray’s earlier defeat of Richard Gasquet, a comparatively humdrum affair, had never threatened to do. Yesterday the Scot’s straight-sets (6-3, 6-4, 6-4) victory over Feliciano Lopez was preceded by Federer’s demise, which gave the spectators more than enough to think about.
Like Murray, Nadal (6-3, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 against the American Mardy Fish) and Novak Djokovic (6-2, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 against Australian Bernard Tomic) progressed with only minor inconvenience. But for how much longer, the crowd may been wondering, will we be talking about this particular big four
MEN'S SEMI-FINALS: The line-up
Centre Court tomorrow (1pm start)
How they match up
(1) Rafael Nadal (Spain)
v
(4) Andy Murray (Britain)
These two have met 15 times, with Nadal coming out on the winning side 11 times. The first time they met was on hard court at the 2007 Australian Open, when Nadal won the first five of their meetings. Importantly, Nadal has won both of their previous meetings on grass, the first at Wimbledon 2008 and the last at Wimbledon 2010, when the Spaniard won in the semi-final in straight sets 6-4, 7-6(6), 6-4. Current standing 11-4 to Nadal.
Yesterday's quarter-finals results
(12) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (Fra) bt (3) Roger Federer (Swi) 3-6 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 6-4 6-4
(2) Novak Djokovic (Ser) bt Bernard Tomic (Aus) 6-2 3-6 6-3 7-5
(4) Andy Murray (Britain) bt Feliciano Lopez (Spain) 6-3 6-4 6-4
(1) Rafael Nadal (Spain) bt (10) Mardy Fish (USA) 6-3 6-3 5-7 6-4
How they match up
(12) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (France)
v
(2) Novak Djokovic (Serbia)
The two have played each other seven times before with the Frenchman leading the head-to-head at 5-2. They first met back in 2008, when they played each other four times, the first in that year's Australian Open semi-final when Djokovic won in four sets. The only other Grand Slam meeting was in last year's Australian Open quarter-finals, when the streaky but highly talented Tsonga won in five sets. While the current advantage in victories is with Tsonga they have never met on grass.
