Roger Federer Enters History Books
Roger Federer finally won his first Roland Garros title today against Robin Soderling and here are my thoughts on the final…
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| Roger Federer Wins His First French Open title
Photo by BERTRAND GUAY/AFP/Getty Images |
Today’s final showed the difference in experience in Grand Slam finals even before the first ball was struck.
When Roger Federer and Robin Soderling chose the sides and who was going to serve first, they had to pose for a few seconds for photographers on both sides of the court and Roger had to remind Robin to do that.
Robin namely just wanted to start playing and had not done this procedure in a Grand Slam final before. Maybe that was already the first mental battle won for Federer who immediately established himself as a more experienced player and the one who controls the happening on the center court.
Here are some thoughts on each of the sets:
Set #1
Soderling definitely felt some nerves in the first game because his first serves didn’t hit that often, he made two unforced errors and his first double fault. Federer on the other hand won his first service game on love in about 90 seconds. 
The sliced return of the second serve worked better today for Roger as Soderling had more troubles picking those low balls up as Del Potro for example.
Robin still couldn’t relax in the third game and lost the serve for the second time.
Roger started this match extremely focused and played much better than the beginning of matches against Haas and Del Potro. Perhaps the opportunity of winning the French Open for the first time and to equal the Grand Slam record of Pete Sampras elevated his alertness to maximum levels…
The rest of the set went the same; Roger was playing at his best and Soderling played at his »normal« levels with which he won barely 3 matches this year before Roland Garros 2009.
Robin could not find his great form and Roger also didn’t allow him to get into the rhythm by forcing with his forehands and playing an occasional drop shot.
Set #2
Some crazy streaker ran on the court at 2:1 and fooled around Federer which definitely disrupted Roger’s focus. I hope that idiot gets a long prison sentence…
Roger refocused and held his serve in the next game, showing the steel mind of a champion.
Now that Soderling found his game, we could clearly see the main strategies of both players: Soderling consistently played to Federer’s backhand and he also attemted some high top spin shots to that side which Federer really doesn’t like – and it worked.
Federer on the other hand looked to catch the big guy on the wrong foot , drop shot him and force the game with his forehand.
Soderling was able to implement his favorite game plan; big serve and attack the short ball with the big forehand and Roger was unable to break Robin’s serve and so the set ended up in the tie-break.
But Roger again raised his game to his top level; ALL his serves were all aces (4 serves), he immediately took control of the baseline rallies with wrong footing shots, great cross court backhands and a drop shot and won the tie-break 7 points to 1.
Set #3
Soderling forced too much in the first game; his second serve was 193 km/h (double fault) and forehand mistakes followed too. Roger played his part with a good passing shot and immediately broke Soderling.
Both player held serve relying on their first first and the forehand to control the points and Federer had to serve for the match at 5:4.
Everyone felt the difficulty of the last game. Federer’s arms must have suddenly felt very heavy and a missed drive volley showed how Federer was feeling. Federer saved the break point with a lucky bad bounce on Soderling’s side.
Two big serves later and Roger Federer won his first Roland Garros and his 14th Grand Slam, became only the 6th player to have won all Grand Slam tournaments and undobtedly became the greatest tennis player of all time.
Why did Roger win?
Roger was able to start this match on a very high level which wasn’t the case in previous matches. He immediately asserted himself as the better player.
His level then dropped to average levels for his standard until the tie-break where he served 4 aces and won 3 out of 4 points on Soderling’s serve.
Roger was able to carry this momentum for one more game where he broke Soderling’s serve again and then just firmly held his serve until the end.
Soderling in my opinion did not approach the match in the right way. He was playing controlled tennis and wanted to win too safely.
He was trying to play smart tennis and outplay Roger from the baseline without risking too much. That in my opinion is impossible.
Soderling should have attacked from the first ball and played like he played against Nadal forcing the game all the time, like he blasted the shots against Davydenko and like he played from 1:4 down in the final set against Gonzalez.
It should have been the feeling that he had nothing to lose but as it showed he was too attached to winning and didn’t want to “waste this opportunity.”
That’s the wrong mindset as it creates tension in the body and mind and prevents you from playing your best.
Congratulations to Roger Federer and I glad that a player with his playing style is the one who won the French Open this time.
Your thoughts on the final and Roger’s achievement are welcome!
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June 7th, 2009 at 3:26 pm
His achievement is incredible, no doubt about that.
Throughout the tournament, he didn’t show superb tennis so I can’t be happy that he won because in my opinion there were guys out there that played better, but when they met Roger, they played against his name and that’s it.
What Soderling did today is not worth of analyzing. The guy was completely frightened and uninterested without any sort of game plan whatsoever.
Federer won this tournament on his name and because Nadal is out and injured.
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June 7th, 2009 at 7:13 pm
Roger’s key to victory was his consistent first serve and powerful second serve. Knowing he could hold at will allowed him to attack Soderling’s serve and make things happen. This also made Soderling more anxious as he had to hold or else! Roger also threaded the needle a bit more on big points due to his experience in big tournaments. And, finally Roger was more aware of court strategy. He hit the drop shots when Soderling was hitting off his back foot and thus unable to reach those balls…..etc.
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June 8th, 2009 at 1:03 am
Thanks Tomas. This has been a dramatic and revealing tournament in many ways. Significantly, men like Soderling and Del Potro discovered more of themselves. I say revealing because the results from the French Open answered a lot of questions and laid bare a few truths: One is that Federer continues to be at a higher plane than the rest in a grand slam format. Murray and Djokovic for all their successes in lesser tournaments, have a long way to go. Nadal’s game has taken him up and has also brought him down with the consequential injury. And possibly many more that I can’t think of right now.
Looking ahead, do you see a change happening in the top 5 rankings by the end of the year? And will Nadal make changes to his style of play to stay in the game longer?
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June 8th, 2009 at 1:20 am
Like you, I’m glad that Federer–a player whose playing style is more suitable for emulating than Nadal’s–won the French Open today. And, I couldn’t be happier for him. He carried himself gracefully throughout the match, no braggadocio antics when he won the point (either from his winner or his opponent’s error), and when he finally won the match, he even cried. It was just touching to watch him, and I’m just happy to be around to watch the greatest male tennis player ever.
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June 8th, 2009 at 6:03 am
Thomas,
I totally agree that Soderling on that day was no match for the swiss master. However, i think in addition to his near perfect game there were few events whic helped him create this history. But in the end many congratulations to Federer for this achievement, and look forward to see him in grass court.
Here is what i think –>
http://outtoday.wordpress.com/2009/06/08/from-sweden-with-love/
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June 8th, 2009 at 10:41 pm
Dear Thomas,
I agree that Robin should have attacked from the beginning. But I don´t agree with you that Robin was “too attached to winning”. I believe that Robin did all he could that day to find his best play. He didn´t get upset although Roger beat him straight in the first set. I sensed that Robin was building up his mind and play. And the second set was much better although one could see that Robin hadn´t recovered physically from the semifinal. So how could a player like Robin find the right mindset for the first Slam final? I believe that this is big challenge to all coaches and there are no short cuts. Coaches must first understand that a player needs a working philosophy from the beginning.
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June 11th, 2009 at 7:51 am
First of all, triumph in Roland Garros is a great success of Roger Federer.
I have no doubts and congratulate him.
I am not a tennis expert, however as a tennis fan and amateur player I have some thoughts about this event and want to share them with you. It will be my amateur point of view.
I believe of course that Robin Soderling tried to do his best and to win the match.
However from the other hand, somewhere deep in his mind could be a thought that he could not and even did not want to outplay Roger.
Robin with his second place in the tournament achieved really good result. He must be satisfied.
Roger before the match was about to win much more – historical result of his life and one of the best result in tennis history.
It was said in common opinion that he deserved it.
Even Rafael Nadal, his main opponent, after the lost match with Soderling wished Roger to win the tournament.
The major part of the audience supported Federer. However they were not against Soderling.
Robin after the match did not seem to be very worried.
I think he honestly congratulated Roger and showed his admiration.
I know that in sports there is no place for sentiments.
However I think it was possible that Robin somewhere deep in his mind also wished Roger to win.
The result we could see on the court.
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June 11th, 2009 at 10:38 am
Roger won, fair and square. Period. We know he’s not played his best tennis. But he showed his class when it really mattered. In the 3rd set against Haas. In the first against Monfils and in the 5th against Del Potro. Imagine the pressure on this guy and he still found a way to win. He still has the most beautiful game. And I predict that we will see his best get better now that the pressure is off and he has won the FO. I predict him winning at least two more Wimbledon’s and at least one more of each of the other slams before he retires.
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June 12th, 2009 at 8:43 am
I’m glad I’ve seen the born of the best male tennis player of all time, a perfect illustration of mind, game, and heart (as Sampras describe). Even though Roger is not at his best form (could be due to a lot of factors: pressure of pregnancy and fatherhood, pressure as he never win this slam before, pressure of matching the history, pressure of not playing well for quite a while, etc.), he still managed to win. This is what people call a true champion. I hope he will be able to keep his focus and continues to regain his Wimbledon crown, number 1 ranking, and dominate the tour.
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June 13th, 2009 at 5:05 am
What a thriller that was! Well done Roger! I was more than excited, beside myself, watching you winning Roland Garros! I expected it though after seeing you got back from love 2 in your match with Tommy Haas. The preeminence of a truly great champion emerged from that brink of certain, thrice certain defeat. What a performance it was. For me, that set the stage for the Roland Garros Grand Slam Trophy. CONGRATULATIONS!!!
Tomaz, if you would, could you please give us a look-back at that match.
Regards, gil
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June 29th, 2009 at 3:02 pm
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