So far at Roland Garros, Federer has beaten No. 78 Tobias Kamke, No. 92 Adrian Ungur and No. 89 Nicolas Mahut. In Sunday's fourth round he knocked off No. 109 David Goffin in four sets.
Never before has the 16-time major champ gotten through to the quarterfinals of a major without facing a player ranked 62nd or better.
Federer encountered his toughest test en route to his second major quarterfinal, at Wimbledon in 2001. There he beat No. 6 Pete Sampras, in their only meeting. Since then Federer has earned easier routes, thanks to a ranking of fifth or better for all of his subsequent quarterfinal appearances.
Federer's path at this year's French Open looked trickier before potential early-round opponents David Nalbandian, Andy Roddick, Radek Stepanek and Feliciano Lopez all lost in the first round. Despite the fortunate draw, Federer has lost three sets and 39.6% of the games he's played.
It gets much more difficult from here. In the quarterfinals Federer gets No. 9 Juan Martin del Potro. If he wins that match, he could have to beat the world's top two players, Novak Djokovic and six-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal, to win the title.
Date: 04.06.2012, Source: The Wall Street Journal
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