Roger Federer comes back from two sets to one down in a hard-fought victory over Gilles Simon on Sunday at the French Open. Next up for Federer is Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, a straight-set winner over Viktor Troicki.
(2) Roger Federer d. (15) Gilles Simon 6-1, 4-6, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3
Federer’s Grand Slam quarterfinal streak is alive and well. But not before a huge struggle on Sunday. Federer came back from two sets to one down to beat Simon in two hours and 59 minutes during French Open fourth-round action. The third-ranked Swiss recorded nine aces and two double-faults while reaching his 36th consecutive major quarterfinal.
“The number is unbelievable,” assured Federer, who also earned his 900th career match win in the process. “I probably would have been happy with one at one point in my career, when I was younger. Eventually you raise the bar and say, ‘Okay, hopefully I can reach my first semifinal,’ like in 2003 at Wimbledon. I went on to win the tournament and the rest we know. It’s been an amazing run and I’m happy I’m still on it.”
He was almost on his way to Halle, Germany for the grass-court season instead. After dominating the opening set, Federer dropped serve for the first time at 3-3 in the second. Simon, who did not face a single break point en route to leveling the match at a set apiece, eventually converted his first set point at 5-4, 40-30 when Federer erred on a backhand.
Federer suffered a nasty fall midway through the second and he still struggled to regain his composure even in set three. The 2009 Roland Garros champion lost the last four games of the frame starting at 2-2, including with a service donation at love in the fifth game. Simon survived a deuce game at 5-2, again capitalizing on a set-point opportunity thanks to a backhand mistake by his opponent.
The rest of the way, however, it was almost all Federer. The second seed seized breaks at 3-2 and 5-2 in the fourth and again at 1-0 in the fifth. A never-say-die Simon finally got back on track to hold his final three service games before applying some serious pressure with Federer serving at 5-3. The 18th-ranked Frenchman got a look at three break chances, but Federer saved two with service winners and a third with a forehand volley winner. It finally ended when Simon sent an aggressive down-the-line backhand on match point.
(6) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga d. Viktor Troicki 6-3, 6-3, 6-3
Tsonga continued his impressive trek through the draw on Sunday afternoon, hammering Troicki in just one hour and 45 minutes. A Federer-Tsonga showdown was assured after the Frenchman served at 77 percent and held all 14 of his service games.
The world No. 8 needed just one break in the first set because he dropped a mere a three points on his own serve. Although Tsonga had to saved two break points in set two, he became even more dominant in the return game. His third break of the day came at 5-3 to wrap up the second in style. It was all but over for Troicki when he was broken again at 2-3 in the third. The unseeded Serb squandered one more break point but had no chance of getting back on level terms when his opponent served for the match at 5-3. Tsonga held convincingly and sealed the deal on match point with a forehand half-volley winner.
“I’m playing well and all the lights are green,” said the No. 6 seed, who has not yet dropped a set this fortnight. “Everythng is positive and I have nothing to lose. This is a tournament where I’m often less pre-occupied when I arrive on court, because it’s on clay, because it’s a long match in the offing. It’s almost another sport altogether.”
In last year’s quarterfinals, Tsonga held multiple match points against Novak Djokovic before losing in five sets. He will look to get over that Roland Garros hump on Tuesday in his 13th career meeting with Federer.
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