Sport

Federer takes an unfamiliar route to the second week

— PHOTO: AP

GETTING OUT OF JAIL: Roger Federer was so nightmarishly off his game in the first three sets that one of the greatest upsets in Grand Slam history looked a distinct possibility.

Melbourne: Roger Federer flew economy class into the second week of the Australian Open championship and, predictably, the sighting of His Royal Highness in plebeian precincts did create a stir and make for high drama at Melbourne Park on a dank Saturday.

Unfamiliar with the surroundings, unhappy with the service, unsure about his options, the monarch of men’s tennis, his regal robes crumpled in cramped conditions, fidgeted and frowned for a while. Yet, unused as the great man was to budget travel, there was no doubt in his mind that it would get him to his destination, however uncomfortable the journey.

It was one of those days — a day when you suddenly found yourself having to throw away the much-used Roger Federer lexicon, so handy when it comes to authoring one Festschrift (German term for celebration writing) after another, and, instead, employ words unheard of vis-À-vis Federer’s performances — words such as strife and struggle and fallibility and weakness.

Playing Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia in a third round match, Federer, who has made 10 successive Grand Slam finals, was so nightmarishly off his game in the first three sets that one of the greatest upsets in Grand Slam history — one of seismic proportions — looked a distinct possibility before normal service, of sorts, resumed and the world champion went through 6-7(5), 7-6(1), 5-7, 6-1, 10-8 in four hours and 27 minutes.

As long as it was, the match delayed Sania Mirza’s centrestage appointment with Venus Williams by two and a half hours. It was 10 p.m. when the players made their appearance and through the next hour and a half Sania proved that she does belong in the big league as she put up a gutsy performance before Venus won the third round contest 7-6(0), 6-4.

Watching Federer look vincible and ordinary is about as pleasurable an experience as a blindfolded tour of the Musee du Louvre in Paris might be.

Where has all the beauty gone?

The sight of the great man, shorn of his halo, groping like an ordinary mortal inspired his Serbian opponent to heights Tipsarevic has rarely scaled on a tennis court. On winning the third set, he suddenly started believing he could actually beat the most dominant world champion of all time.

The sudden surge in confidence saw Tipsarevic match Federer in the second half of this gladiatorial contest, the last two sets, when the No.1 seed’s game improved considerably but it never quite reached its customary altitude.

From the moment Federer dropped serve when serving for the first set in the ninth game it was obvious that this was going to be a very unusual day for him and his fans.

Shots he might normally make with his eyes closed were flying wide of the lines or hitting the net and his mind seemed a million miles away.

Yet, utterly unbowed, the great man kept himself in the fight by running away with the second set tiebreak without ever suggesting that his game was back on track.

Such alarming dips in form happen to all players, even the great ones. But when it happens to Federer in a Grand Slam championship, it somehow seems as if something has suddenly gone wrong with the cosmic arrangement.

Finally, after Tipsarevic netted a high volley on breakpoint in the 17thgame of the decider — a marathon set of lacerating intensity — Federer closed out the match on serve in the next game. “I just felt slow from the start,” said Federer. “It wasn’t one of those matches where I came out and felt this is going to be a great night of tennis. It is an unusual feeling.”

It was an unusual feeling for Sania Mirza too. Playing a multiple Grand Slam champion — Venus Williams — at the Rod Laver Arena in front of thousands of spectators certainly seemed to bring out the best in the 21-year old Indian.

In a nerveless display of attacking tennis, Sania raced to a 5-3 lead in the opening set, breaking the four-time Wimbledon champion’s serve in the fifth game. But then, serving for the set, Sania faltered even as Venus quickly raised her game and started dictating points with her far-flung groundstrokes.

Sania did very well to stave off two setpoints to hold to 6-6 but Venus was simply imperious in the tiebreak, winning seven points in a row.

In the second set, Sania was broken in the seventh game and from there it was a matter of time. Ultimately one piece of statistics pointed to the difference: Venus hit 22 winners and had 19 unforced errors while Sania hit 18 winners and had 30 unforced errors.

“She (Venus) pressed on the pedal when she had to. I couldn’t do that but I was in the match till the very end,” said Sania.

On a day when a persistent drizzle washed out play on all but the two covered courts at the Rod Laver Arena and the Vodafone Arena, the 2007 men’s finalist, Fernando Gonzalez of Chile, and the women’s No.2 seed, Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia were both knocked out of the singles championships in the third round.

Marin Cilic of Croatia, at 19 the youngest player left in the men’s draw, was mostly in command against Gonzalez as he beat the Chilean seventh seed 6-2, 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-1 a little after Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland to past Kusnetsova 6-3, 6-4.

Radwanska, 19, finished school just six months ago but since then she has made it a habit of ousting high-profile Russians from Grand Slam events. At the U.S. Open, she had beaten Maria Sharapova.

© Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu