Even in the twilight of his career, Roger Federer is still capable of
conjuring the near impossible. The 38-year-old Swiss produced another
miraculous comeback to save seven match points and stun Tennys Sandgren
6-3, 2-6, 2-6, 7-6 (8), 6-3 to reach the Australian Open semifinals.
“You’ve got to get lucky sometimes,” Federer said with a smile in his
on-court interview. “I was just hoping that maybe he wasn’t going to
smash a winner, if he misses one or two match points, who knows what’s
going to happen? I think I got incredibly lucky today.
“As the match went on, I started to feel better and just tried to
play. I believe in miracles. There could be rain. Just let him finish me
off in style, and he didn’t do that. I’m still standing here and
obviously just very happy.”
Federer remains unbeaten (15-0) in quarter-finals at this event. The
Swiss has also won his past six five-set matches in Melbourne,
completing another great escape last week by rallying from 4/8 in the
fifth-set tie-break of his third-round clash with John Millman.
Next up for him is second-seeded Serbian Novak Djokovic, who beat No. 32 seed Milos Raonic of Canada in straight sets. Federer trails Djokovic 23-26
in their rivalry and has lost their past three matches in Melbourne,
all of which took place in the semi-finals (2008, 2011, 2016).
“The draws are not getting easier. But I’ve got the next two days with
nothing to do. You do feel better and you just never know. With these
lucky escapes, you might play without expectations because you know you
should be skiing in Switzerland. Might as well make the most of it!”
Federer applied pressure from the first ball in the opening set.
Sandgren erased a pair of break points in his first service game, then
fought back from 0/40 two games later. But Federer kept knocking on the
door and it opened at 3-2, with the six-time champion securing a break
after Sandgren sent a backhand long. He maintained his slight advantage
and cracked a first serve on set point to take the early lead.
The Swiss has been prone to streaks of unforced errors this fortnight
and endured another spell of them early in the second set. With
Sandgren using his outstanding speed to make Federer play one more ball,
the 28-year-old tracked down a deep forehand on break point at 1-0 and
floated up a high lob, drawing a smash error from Federer to grab his
first break of the day.
Federer struggled to find the range on his shots, hitting 15 unforced
errors throughout the second set. Serving at 2-5, the third seed's
backhand hit the top of the tape on set point and allowed Sandgren to
level the match.
The unseeded American scored another break against the Swiss to lead 2-0 in the third set, causing the crowd inside Rod Laver
Arena to gasp in unison. With the prospect of a maiden Grand Slam
semi-final becoming more realistic, Sandgren blocked out any signs of
nerves and remained calm.
Facing triple break point at 2-0, he unleashed a series of booming
serves and eventually held. Sandgren continued to increase his
first-serve percentage, beefing it up from 46 per cent in the first set
to 70 per cent in the third set.
Federer left the court for a medical timeout at 0-3, but it didn't
change Sandgren's dominance on serve. Most of his aces came in the Ad
court, but he also consistently pushed the Swiss out wide to his
forehand in the Deuce court, setting up one-two punches to keep points
short.
Although Federer's movement appeared to be hampered, he fought for
every point. He bravely erased five set points on his serve at 2-5, but
Sandgren converted his sixth chance after a Federer backhand found the
net, pumping his fist at his team as he moved closer to a
career-defining win.
Both players traded comfortable service holds in the fourth set until
Sandgren reached match point with Federer serving at 4-5. But the
prospect of defeating the six-time champion suddenly showed in the
American’s groundstrokes, with three match-point opportunities vanishing
due to nervy errors. Federer eventually held with a forehand winner as
the crowd roared in approval.
The set eventually moved to a tie-break and it was Federer who
blinked first, hitting a loose forehand to give the American a 4/3
mini-break advantage. Another three match points came Sandgren's way at
6/3, but the Swiss shockingly erased all of them and hit a swinging
forehand volley winner at 6/5 to level the score.
A seventh match point came and went at 7/6 after Sandgren hit a slice
backhand into the net. Federer, at long last, earned a set point of his
own at 8/7, but the American quickly removed it with an ace. Federer
secured a 9/8 mini-break lead after the American pulled a forehand wide,
then brought the match to a decider after Sandgren sent a smash from
the baseline well long.
Sandgren stayed with Federer in the early stages of the final set, but
the effects of squandering seven match points had understandably taken a
toll mentally. Federer found new life in his movement and pace on his
forehand, cracking a down-the-line forehand at 3-2 to earn a critical
break. He made good on his first match point, launching a big first
serve to wrap up play after three hours and 31 minutes.
“For most of the time there, I thought that was it,” said Federer.
“Of course, there's little sparkles where maybe not, then you're like,
no, it is over. Only maybe when I won that fourth set did I really think
that maybe this whole thing could turn around.
“Honestly, when they told me seven match points, I was like, ‘What? I thought it was three.’ It's such a blur at some point.
“You go through a lot of different moments,” admitted Federer, who
left the court for a medical time out due to a groin strain at 0-3 in
the third set. “I figured the way I came back from the injury time-out,
still being a little bit worried how things are, that didn't help. You
hope sometimes you can solve things with a medical timeout, but that was
not really the case.
“That third set was halfway gone anyhow, so it was just a matter of
coming to terms with what do I have, what don't I have in my game. I
figured in the fourth set, somehow things could go quickly or maybe I'll
hang around for a bit, or eventually he'll get the break, because he
was playing very well.”
Federer hopes his groin went tight through spending 12 hours and 44
minutes on court in five matches, but he’ll find out the full extent of
the problem on Wednesday. “I started to feel it about midway through the
second set,” he said.
“I can get through a match like this, through a match like Millman, yes, you do believe. I only believe it over once it's over. I
shake the hand of the opponent, that it's over, that it's fine.
“Grand Slams are definitely tough in many
different ways. Then again, I didn't feel like I wasted too much
emotional energy out there today because I came to terms quickly that
things weren't exactly the way I wanted them to be. Instead of dwelling
over them, I felt like I'll just play with it, see what can be done, see
if he can put me away or not.
“When I got to the fifth set, I was like, ‘Oh, it's already fifth
set’. I don't feel physically exhausted like against Millman. I
recovered very well from that match. I'm also
hopeful because I feel like I didn't get spent completely today. I'm
hopeful that I can recover actually.”
Date: 28 January 2020, Source: ATP and Australian Open
