Roger Federer is accustomed to Grand Slam butterflies. He finds it difficult to eat or sleep. He feels fatigued and jittery and even a bit dizzy.
Then Federer steps on the court, and he’s fine.
That was the case in the quarter-finals at the French Open on Wednesday, when Federer shook off the shakes to produce his best effort of the tournament. It left him two wins shy of a career Grand Slam and a 14th major title, which would equal Pete Sampras’ record. And he’s 5-0 against his semi-final opponent today, towering Argentine Juan Martin del Potro.
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Federer beat Gael Monfils of France 7-6 (3), 5-7, 7-5 on Wednesday after approaching the match with apprehension.
“We’re all nervous at this stage of the competition,” Federer said. “I felt it ... I was tired, I was nervous, and I didn’t feel really good. Then once out on court, I get my act together with the experience. I think, ‘Things will be all right.’”
Some of the jitters resulted from the realization this may be his best shot at a French Open title.
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Federer has been beaten at Roland Garros by Rafael Nadal the past four years, including the past three finals. Robin Soderling did Federer and the rest of the field a favor with an upset win over Nadal, the King of Clay, in the fourth round.
No. 3-seeded Andy Murray and No. 4 Novak Djokovic have also been eliminated. Federer is a combined 26-1 against the other three semi-finalists — del Potro, Soderling (9-0) and Fernando Gonzalez (12-1). Against the trio, Federer has won 63 of 69 sets.
“It’s also one of the reasons why I was nervous,” Federer said, “because of the whole stories of Nadal losing, Murray losing, Djokovic losing maybe opening up the draw a little bit.”
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Federer is a semi-finalist for the 20th consecutive time at a Grand Slam tournament, extending his record. The 20-year-old del Potro earned his first major semi-final berth by beating No. 16 Tommy Robredo 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 on Wednesday.
In today’s other match, the No. 23-seeded Soderling will try to continue his improbable run against No. 12 Gonzalez. Soderling finds himself beyond the third round at a Grand Slam tournament for the first time, while Gonzalez is the first Chilean since 1960 to reach the Roland Garros semi-finals.
Serena Williams, of all people, got a case of the jitters on Wednesday.
That was her explanation, anyway.
The 10-time Grand Slam champion kept finding herself in, then out of, trouble in the French Open quarter-finals, until running out of stamina and strokes down the stretch of a 7-6 (3), 5-7, 7-5 loss to Svetlana Kuznetsova that ended Williams’ 18-match winning streak at major tournaments.
“I had an opportunity, and I got really tight, and I pretty much gave it to her,” said the second-seeded Williams, who blew a 3-1 lead in the third set. “It was like, ‘Here. Do you want to go to the semis? Because I don’t.’ She was like, ‘OK.’”
The seventh-seeded Kuznetsova’s semi-final opponent yesterday was No. 30 Samantha Stosur of Australia, who defeated Sorana Cirstea of Romania 6-1, 6-3. The other women’s semi-final is No. 1 Dinara Safina of Russia against No. 20 Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia.
If the Stosur-Cirstea match was as onesided as could be, Kuznetsova-Williams was hyper-competitive and superbly played.
Until, at least, Kuznetsova took eight of the last nine points, breaking Williams in the final game.
“Honestly, I think I lost because of me,” Williams said, “and not because of anything she did.”
Williams denied she felt fatigued, blaming nerves instead. How could that be?
“Maybe I put some expectations on myself that I didn’t put on myself initially,” she said.
The women’s semi-finalists might very well be relieved to know that 2002 French Open champion Williams is gone, because she was by far the most accomplished of the remaining players.
Kuznetsova, the 2004 US Open champion, is the only member of the remaining quartet to have won a major title. Neither Stosur nor Cibulkova has won any singles title on tour.
Still, Kuznetsova has something of a reputation as someone who is capable of folding at key moments of tense matches, including a loss to Williams at the Australian Open in January after serving for the match in the second set.
“Same scenario,” Kuznetsova said.
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