Roger Federer lost the quarter-finals in Wimbledon in a very bitter five-set defeat. For the fifth time in his career, the Swiss lost a 2-0 lead – and was severely depressed.
By Jörg Allmeroth from Wimbledon
Wimbledon also includes the everyday noise of aircraft approaching Heathrow Airport. It’s a background noise that actually doesn’t bother anyone in the tennis caravan, everyone has got used to it and learned to ignore it. But at 11:11 and 30:30 in the fifth set of his game against South African Kevin Anderson Roger Federer suddenly stopped in his serve movement on Wednesday afternoon and then stepped back a meter. He looked up tense to the sky, angry and mumbling, he heard the noise of the airplane.
Then he returned to service. And what happened was the beginning of the end. Federer made the first and only double mistake in the whole game, he lost his service. And he also lost the next game. And he was outside the Wimbledon tournament – 6:2, 6:7 (5:7), 5:7, 4:6 and 11:13 beaten by Anderson, the blatant outsider.
The King had abdicated, the fairy tale of his amazing Grand Slam triumphs on the home stretch of his exceptional career had come to a sobering end at least at his favourite playground. “Right now I feel terrible and totally tired. It’s terrible now to have to accept this defeat,” Federer said later, “this match should never have slipped out of my hands.
This was also true because Federer is known in the tennis scene as a frontrunner. Once he leads a match, he is usually even stronger than before. Before this memorable defeat, he had only lost twice in 268 Grand Slam matches after leading 2-0 here in London against Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in 2011. And later that year also at the US Open against Novak Djokovic.
But as superfluous as this failure was probably no major defeat at all for the 36-year-old family father, who in the initial phase, after winning an opening set in 26 minutes, could see the match as a walk in the park – and who even had a victory point in the third set, but missed it.
It was not yet apparent at the time, but this unused match point was intended to turn the tide in a game that had previously brought one-way tennis to Federer in the right direction, against Anderson, the South African giants. “You have to take your hat off, though, as Anderson fought his way out of an almost hopeless situation. That was the game of his life. With an incredible amount of heart and courage,” said BBC commentator Boris Becker, himself formerly notorious and known for such adventurous shots.
Federer gradually lost access to the game and power on Court One. On the second main square, where he had to compete again for the first time since 2015 – rightly so, since the Centre Court was challenged by Novak Djokovic against Kei Nishikori and Rafael Nadal against Juan Martin del Potro.
Federer didn’t have any adjustment problems because he had problems, because more and more mistakes interfered with his game, especially on the forehand. And because Anderson gratefully grasped the straw Federer handed him, and with ever greater self-confidence finally soared up to the maestro at eye level. Federer lost his service for the first time after winning 85 service games, then after 34 rounds he lost a set for the first time.
Quite inconspicuously the weights changed in the match. Slowly but persistently and above all incredibly hard-boiled Anderson staged his comeback. His powerful serve was the decisive weapon. Aces and non-returnable service balls pelted down on Federer, often he could only resignedly change sides.
He probably kept asking himself why he hadn’t long been the winner in the shower – and was on his way to the rented house to watch the World Cup match between England and Croatia in peace and quiet. Instead, it went on, further and further for the Maestro and Anderson, the cool giant, via the fourth movement into the decision act.
Federer had been on the Centre Court for six hours and eight minutes in his first four matches. Now he was challenged in a real marathon, because Anderson simply could not be shaken off. Federer had the advantage of opening the fifth set, he then always served from the front, with a calming lead, actually. But Anderson held his course, equalled the most successful Wimbledon player of the modern age eleven times, did not allow a single break point and was wide awake when Federer offered a weak spot. “I’ve always said to myself: Bleib´ it. This is your day,” he said later. Anderson had simply been “incredibly solid and constant,” Federer said: “He deserved it, no question about it.”
And what now, after the abrupt end of the hours of futile struggle? “I don’t know how long it’s gonna take me to get over it. Maybe for a while, maybe only half an hour,” said Federer, “my goal is of course to come back next year.
And then Federer revealed his state of mind once again, after the bitter turn of events: “Defeats hurt more in Wimbledon than everywhere. You want to avoid them at all costs, you don’t want to sit here and explain your failure,” he said, “but that’s exactly what I have to do.”