French Open 2011: Roger Federer Wins Epic Semifinal, Prepares for Rafael Nadal

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: June 4, 2011

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Did everyone really feel the greatest player of all time would go away quietly?

Roger Federer stepped on the Center Court at Roland Garros Friday in a very unfamiliar position...underdog.

Playing against second-seeded Novak Djokovic, a Serbian player who had won the Australian Open and was 41-0 this year, Federer was even worse than an underdog in that many analysts and fans alike were simply overlooking the 16-time Grand Slam champion. 

With clay being his worst surface, the third-seeded Federer was picked by virtually no one to win the French and why should he be?  Rafael Nadal has owned him on clay, and Djokovic has owned the entire world in 2011.

Yet as darkness fell in Paris tonight, Roger Federer approached the net, index finger in the air, yelling victoriously, as he vanquished Djokovic in an epic four-set encounter, 7-6, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6. 

The matched served as a reminder that the "old" man still has something left to prove.  At 29, Federer is several years older than both Djokovic and Nadal, and hasn't won a major in over a year.  The two higher seeds, in fact, have won the last four majors combined.  All of the signs pointed to today's match between Federer and Djokovic as a changing of the guard.

Had Djokovic have won, he would have tied John McEnroe's record of the best-ever start to a season and, for the first time in his career, leave Paris as the No. 1 ranked player in the world.  And then you have Nadal who was trying to tie Mats Wilander as the winningest player in French Open history. 

Yet the 2011 French Open was to serve as the latest example that Federer's reign of greatness was coming to an end.  Now was the time that Roger would be put in his place permanently as the third-best player in the world.

It took over three and a half hours, a lot of guts and near total darkness for Federer to prove all the doubters wrong....
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Tennis

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