Roger Federer’s Biggest Test So Far At The French Open 2009
Roger Federer is still a contender for the French Open 2009 title after beating Tommy Haas in five sets. Haas led two sets to zero, 7-6 and 7-5 and the players were equal until 4:4 in the third when Roger managed to break Tommy.
After that it was all Federer as he won 6-0 and 6-2 the next 2 sets. I watched the match live and here are some thoughts:
- Roger played the first two sets very flat, low and risky with his forehand. It was quite windy and the courts are really not good (I really need to criticize the organisers here; the number of bad bounces on both center courts is just unbeleviable. All other courts here are better than these two!) so it was very difficult to time the ball well. Combine that with risky play of Federer and you get lots of unforced errors (well, they are forced by wind and bad bounces, not by opponent)
- Tommy played freely; he had no pressure and was serving great. His forehand worked wonders and he was playing near the lines for 2 hours.
- The wind subsided in the third set and Roger found his timing. He also started to play with more spin and more margin for error. I could clearly hear the different sound of shots in the last 3 sets of the match compared to first 2!
- Roger’s spin forehand even when he doesn’t attack is extremely effective on clay as it shoots up and forward because of tremendous rotation. Federer could play like this most of the match and it would be very hard for anyone to attack that ball.
- Tommy basically self-destruct in the fourth set, Federer played high percentage tennis and Tommy never found his way back.
Roger Federer’s hopes of winning the French Open 2009 are still alive but there are still many great players in the field, for example…
Juan Martin Del Potro : Jo Wilfried Tsonga 6-1, 6-7, 6-1, 6-4
This was not Tsonga’s day. Perhaps he put too much pressure on himself as his shots and serves were not as accurate as they were last week.
Juan Martin served excellently, with the average speed of the first serve over 200 km/h. Del Potro played a solid baseline game with few unforced errors and Tsonga just forced too much.
A few bad mistakes cost him the service break in the fourth and he was unable to break Del Potro’s serve.
Del Potro looks very calm, plays high percentage tennis, has a BIG serve and a big forehand and he’ll be very tough to beat. He now plays Tommy Robredo and that will be a great clay court match up.
I haven’t seen Sorana Cirstea live but saw her beat Jankovic on TV. She is a fantastic talent and if you haven’t seen her play, make sure that you.
Cirstea has a great future ahead in the women’s professional tennis. Here’s a clip of her play:
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