French Open 2013: Day 8 round-up - Men's singles

Two superb five-setters on Sunday at Roland Garros as the old guard of men’s tennis mounted spirited fightbacks to come from behind and snatch victory were the highlights of Day 8 of the French Open.

#2 Roger Federer (Switzerland) beat #15 Gilles Simon (France) 6-1 3-6 2-6 6-2 6-3

For a set-and-a-half, Roger Federer was in impeccable form. Gliding around the court, playing some free-flowing tennis on both wings, he was giving Simon all sorts of problems. He had won the first set 6-1 in no time, being utterly dominant. It also included perhaps the shot of the tournament so far, as he hit a running forehand down the line around the net, much to the delight of the crowd.

He was threatening to break again at 3-2 in the second. Then came the stumble; while chasing a backhand, Federer got his toe caught in the clay and fell over. The fall looked innocuous at the time, but following that, Simon would go on to dominate the match for the next hour of the contest.

The fall looked to have disconcerted the Swiss, as Federer served up a double-fault in his next service game and got broken as he began spraying his shots everywhere. That period of play saw Simon win 15 out of 20 points, putting him firmly in the driver’s seat as he levelled the game at a set apiece. Federer had 17 unforced errors in the second set, as compared to 13 in the first.

The drop in Federer’s play coincided with Simon improving his game. He was generating more pace behind his shot and was looking more aggressive. It helped push Federer back and draw more errors, preventing the Swiss from dictating the game. An out-of-sorts Federer continued to struggle and the Frenchman, with the raucous home support egging him on, soon took a two-sets-to-one lead, breaking Federer’s serve twice in the third set.

The response was to come in the fourth set. Federer threw in a flurry of drop shots while also looking to finish the points extremely quickly with outright winners in an attempt to upset the Frenchman’s rhythm. And the second seed upped the ante to break Simon in the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead. That would be the beginning of a seven-game streak for Federer, as he closed out the fourth set with another break and took an early break in the fifth to lead 3-0. Federer also made a slight tactical switch, hitting the backhand crosscourt a whole lot more to the Simon backhand as against going up the line, which the Frenchman was neutralizing with his forehand. Simon was the one who was now looking anxious, making many more unforced errors.

A marathon fourth game on the Simon serve lasted over 15 minutes as Federer threatened to blow the decider open with a decisive second break. Simon, though, stood firm and battled away to salvage the game and get on the board in the set. The single break proved enough in the end for Federer. He endured a nervy game when he stepped up to serve for the match at 5-3, dumping an easy backhand volley into the net and sending a forehand long. However, his serve came to his aid with three out of his nine aces coming at the most critical juncture of the game. Simon’s backhand down the line sailed wide on match point as Federer emerged from the brink to clinch victory on his first match point.

#4 David Ferrer (Spain) beat (23) Kevin Anderson (South Africa) 6-3 6-1 6-1

A dominant performance from Spain’s no. 4 seed saw him reach the quarter-finals. He did not let Kevin Anderson dominate with the serve, as he applied some serious pressure on the South African’s service games. He fashioned a truckload of break-point opportunities and was +17(28-11) in winners-unforced errors differential.

#6 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (France) beat Victor Troicki (Serbia) 6-3 6-3 6-3

A power-packed performance from Tsonga got the job done in straight sets against Troicki. It was a near-perfect match from the Frenchman as he bossed from start to finish to emerge victorious. He served really well, making 77% of first serves and winning 73% of points on it, while also winning 79% of points on his second serve. He will play Federer in the quarter-finals.

#32 Tommy Robredo (Spain) beat #11 Nicolas Almagro (Spain) 6-7 3-6 6-4 6-4 6-4

Ironman 3 may have hit the theatres last month, but Tommy Robredo is doing his own Iron Man act at this year’s French Open. The man does not know when he’s beaten! To come back from two-sets down in a single week once – that’s great, twice – very well done, thrice – you have got to be insane! On Sunday, he engineered the latest of his comebacks from two-sets-to-love down to beat fellow Spaniard, the No.11 seed, Nicolas Almagro in a five-set thriller.

A very good first set from both players went to a tie-break. Both Spaniards were striking the ball very cleanly while keeping errors at a minimum. Almagro, though, pushed through to gain a slight advantage and took the first. Almagro had 18 winners in the first set to just 9 unforced errors – very solid numbers!

He began to impose himself more in the second as Robredo struggled to keep up with his compatriot’s shots. Robredo, who had made 13 winners in the first set, had just one to his name in the second. Almagro was growing in confidence and, with 13 winners, took a double-break to pocket the set 6-3.

Almagro led 4-2 in the third set with a break in hand, and it appeared that the 31-year-old Robredo’s campaign was drawing to a close. But he broke back to pull it to 4-3, and then again in the 9^th game to go ahead 5-4. He served it out to take set three and the comeback was on, yet again! Almagro was -1(11-12) in winners-unforced errors differential in the set, and while his level dropped just that little bit, Robredo had something to do with it as well, making 13 winners and keeping the unforced errors down to 7.

In almost identical fashion, Robredo found himself down 2-4 in the fourth set as well. The set was a carbon copy of the previous one – Tommy down 2-4, breaks back in the seventh game to make it 3-4, breaks again in the ninth game to take a 5-4 lead and serves it out to win 6-4. He just refused to go away, and got under the skin of his younger opponent.

The fifth set was pure theatre – drama, tension, irritation, and the fans were lapping it all up. The pair traded breaks early – Almagro broke to lead 2-0, but Robredo broke right back to 1-2. It was then the elder Spaniard’s turn to take the lead as he broke for 3-2, but Almagro came back hard to level in the very next game. The match had now come to resemble a boxing bout, and Robredo started working the crowd late in the fifth set, as he looked to rally the Roland Garros faithful behind him. An already irritated Almagro could not believe his eyes as the crowd got firmly behind his opponent. It affected him so much, that after one point, he too attempted to woo the crowd, with some success.

But there was no doubt who the majority of the stadium was backing – it was the veteran Robredo. And behind the wave of support, he broke through to take a 5-4 lead yet again. This time Almagro was finished; he looked listless after squandering that last break of serve and Robredo completed the formalities to finish an improbable comeback.

He broke into tears of joy and disbelief, quite not able to control himself as he earned a standing ovation inside Phillippe Chatrier.

Trivia

Tommy Robredo completed his third come-from-behind win from two-sets down this week – in Round 2 versus Igor Sijsling 6-7(2) 4-6 6-3 6-1 6-1, in Round 3 versus Gael Monfils 2-6 6-7(5) 6-2 7-6(3) 6-2, and yesterday in Round 4 versus Nicolas Almagro.

Robredo became the first man to come back from two sets down to win three consecutive matches at a Grand Slam since 1927.

For the second Grand Slam running, Almagro has let slip a two-sets-to-love advantage; at the Australian Open, he was in a similar position against another countryman, David Ferrer.

Roger Federer’s comeback victory against Gilles Simon was his 900^th career match win.

Victory yesterday means that Federer has now made 36 consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinals – an unmatched record.