Even in defeat Roger Federer holds centre stage. Yet the hastily convened press conference after his exit from the French Open, in three quick and disjointed sets at the hands of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on a warm Tuesday afternoon on Court Philippe Chatrier, had the air of the reading of a will, as if the man who has won 17 grand slams and may yet win another was expected to hand on his gifts to those arriving behind him.
The Swiss was not much concerned, however, that for the first time since Tomas Berdych gate-crashed Wimbledon in 2010 this Major would have a finalist from outside the Big Four (himself, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and the absent Andy Murray). Nor, understandably, did he feel compelled to dwell on his own quarter-final except to acknowledge that Tsonga, who has not dropped a set in the first 10 days of the tournament, thoroughly deserved a 7-5, 6-3, 6-3 win that pits him against the relentless David Ferrer in the semi-finals on Friday.
Low-key sideshow
Ferrer, dogged as ever, simultaneously made mincemeat of his fellow Spaniard Tommy Robredo 6-2, 6-1, 6-1 on Court Suzanne Lenglen and, even though it was a low-key sideshow compared with the drama on the main court, it ensured one of them will reach the final - probably against either Novak Djokovic or Rafael Nadal, whose quarter-final trials await them today.
Federer, although cordial, seemed eager to leave the scene of his grief. “There’s more fun things to do than this,” he said, “so we might as well get it out of the way. For me this is already pretty much past now, even though it’s only been like a half an hour. This is obviously a crushing loss but I look forward to other things. I have not had any holidays. Paris is a nice place. We’ll see. (Then) going to Halle. Don’t know when.”
So the grass of Germany awaits him before Wimbledon where he will, as ever, gather his resources on a more favoured surface and do his best to defend his title.
There is a purity about Federer's tennis that he refuses to compromise, going for the shot he thinks appropriate, whether or not the net intervenes or the ball slides away from the scoring zone.
Let him down
He trusts his talent and here it let him down too often. Tsonga stayed solid. After recovering in the first set he had a blip early in the third, then closed it out with a zest in his strokes that left Federer thrashing at thin air.
“I should have never been broken at 4-3, 40-15,” Federer said. He agreed, however, that Tsonga “was in all areas better than me today. That’s why the result was pretty clean, no doubt about it.”
There were no fitness issues, no excuses, just fleeting sadness, maybe. His new short haircut even made him look a little boyish. But he is 32 in August. Time is not his friend – although it most certainly is on Tsonga’s side. At 28 he is in the form of his life. He may not just make the final; he could win it.
"Since a couple of months I tried to manage my career as well as possible," he said. "I was waiting for a reward, because I'm practising hard every day. Today I got the reward."
Guardian Service
