By Randy Walker
@TennisPublisher
Roger Federer is no longer an ATP tennis pro. There are only memories now, which fans can relive in the book “On This Day In Roger Federer History” (for sale and download here: https://a.co/d/6QxSxTV)
Federer won the men’s singles title at the U.S. Open a record-tying five times – and lost two other finals. But what are Federer’s greatest U.S. Open match victories that were NOT finals? Here are the top 10 for consideration from the pages of the “On This Day In Roger Federer History” book.
September 1, 2019: In just 79 minutes, Roger Federer defeats David Goffin 6-2, 6-2, 6-0 in the fourth round of the U.S. Open in what eventually becomes known as his 89th and final U.S. Open match victory. Federer wins more than double the amount of points than the No. 15 seed 83 points to 39 and Goffin only wins six points in the third set. Writes Neil Schlecht on the USOpen.org website, “It was an unqualified, one-sided demolition of the former world No. 7. After the briefest flirtation with a slow start, in which Federer was broken in his second service game—a lull that lasted a single game and all of three minutes—the Swiss was never tested again.” Says Federer, “I’ve got to say that David didn’t have his best day. I know he was struggling,” says Federer, after the match. “When I was up, all of a sudden, a break, I felt like he was starting not to play the same way anymore or like I’d known him from previous times.”
September 1, 2018: In a highly anticipated third-round match at the U.S. Open, Roger Federer hits one of the signature shots of his career, going around the net post to hit a winner against Nick Kyrgios in his 6-4, 6-1, 7-5 third-round victory. The shot is hit at 3-3 with Kyrgios serving with the advantage and Federer races to an angled forehand drop shot and hits a forehand that is just inches off the ground, around the post and inside the court for an incredible passing shot winner. Says Federer of the shot; “You don’t get an opportunity to hit around the net post very often, because in practice, you can’t really train them. The net is out further and the court is more narrow, so for a shot like this to happen in a practice, you will be running into a fence and you will hit it into the net. So these shots can only really happen on a big court where you play with the single posts in the doubles alley. I have hit a few throughout my career, and, sure, they are always fun…I definitely think it was a special one, no doubt about it.”
September 2, 2008: In a three-hour, 32-minute five-set, fourth-round match, featuring 60 unforced errors and plenty of media-described “guttural yells,” Roger Federer advances into the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open with a 6-7(5), 7-6(5), 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 decision over Russia’s Igor Andreev. Federer credits the rowdy Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd for his rare on-court animations – “that feeling of going crazy” – as the four-time defending champion staves off the upset bid. Chuck Culpepper of the Los Angeles Times describes the Federer-Andreev affair as “a long, stirring slog of a match” that “had Federer as a sort of mini-Connors impersonating a jackhammer and vibrating his body in a double fist pump after a pivotal break of service in a fifth set.” Says Federer to the media of his five-set effort, “I was really happy because in five sets you go through different stages of feelings, of playing well, playing bad. And in the fifth set you try not to make that many errors, and hopefully you’ll get off on a good start. That’s exactly what happened. I was just really pleased with my fighting spirit.”
September 3, 2007: “That’s awesome. Come on. What have I done?” is Roger Federer’s response when presented by media when told that he wins an incredible 35 straight points on his serve in his 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-4 fourth round night-match victory over Feliciano Lopez. Federer trails 0-40 in the first game of the third set before reeling off his streak that ends in the final game of the match. “I was feeling great on the serve, my God,” says Federer. “I was serving well and playing aggressive, and things really turned around for me. Yeah, it was an awesome match. I really enjoyed it because he did play very well. Right off the bat was hitting his best shot, and that was tough for me. I was relieved when I got that second set, no doubt.”
September 4, 2014: Roger Federer saves two match points and comes back from a two-sets-to-love deficit to defeat Gael Monfils 4-6, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5, 6-2 in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open. Federer fights back from the brink facing two match points serving at 4-5, 15-40 in the fourth set. “Not sure I have ever saved match point before in a Slam,” Federer says. “If that hasn’t happened, I’m unbelievably happy that it was today, because I knew I could play better after the first couple of sets. I believed I could turn it around from the get-go when the third set started, and I’m so happy the crowd got into it.”
September 6, 2008: With Tropical Storm Hanna heading towards New York, Roger Federer is able to beat the weather, and Novak Djokovic, and advance into his fifth straight U.S. Open final with a 6-3, 5-7, 7-5, 6-2 victory, in a reprise of the previous year’s U.S. Open final. Federer is fortunate to finish his match on Arthur Ashe Stadium, where the other men’s semifinal match between Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray is started on Louis Armstrong Stadium and not completed, Murray holding a two-sets-to-one lead before the rains cancel play for the day. “I’m happy I got my match through,” Federer says in his courtside interview. Of his form in his win, Federer tells reporters in his post-match press conference, “I definitely had moments during today where I thought, ‘This is how I would like to play every time.’ So it was a very nice feeling to get that that feeling back.”
September 7, 2006: Saying “The score says it all. The match could have gone either way,” Roger Federer edges James Blake 7-6(7), 6-0, 6-7(9), 6-4 in a high-energy night match in the U.S. Open quarterfinals. “It was tough,” Federer says. “It was a match of extremely high quality. It takes a lot for two people hitting the ball so hard. I was happy with my game. I didn’t make many unforced errors. I pretty much could rely on my serve except for a couple of match points here and there. With so much back and forth, it turned out to be a real thriller.”
September 9, 2004: Resuming their U.S. Open quarterfinal match postponed the previous night due to rain, Roger Federer and Andre Agassi battle through very windy conditions before Federer wins in five sets 6-3, 2-6, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3. Federer leads by two-sets-to-one before rain delays the conclusion of their match. ”Today it felt like you were playing out on a field, where there is no wind breakers,” says Federer. ”So this has been one of the toughest experiences I’ve had with the wind in a match situation, especially in such a big one. So I’m happy to have coped well with that.”
September 9, 2009: In a match that first appears to be a routine romp, turns into a dog-fight as Roger Federer fends off the late surging Robin Soderling 6-0, 6-3, 6-7(6), 7-6 (6) to advance into the semifinals of the U.S. Open, his 22nd consecutive Grand Slam semifinal appearance. Federer wins the first two sets in just 59 minutes and is just two points from a straight-sets victory in the third set, before Soderling wins the third-set tiebreaker to extend the match. Soderling actually holds a set point at 6-5 in the fourth-set tiebreaker to extend the match to a fifth set, but Federer holds on, winning the last three points of the match. “It was so close towards the end. It’s a great relief to come through, because Robin started playing better and better as the match went on,” Federer says after the match. “I knew he’d be tough, but the beginning was way too easy. He found his way into the match.” The win gives Federer a 12-0 record against Soderling, including his win over him in the French Open final earlier in the year.
September 13, 2009: Roger Federer executes perhaps the signature shot of his career, slamming a “tweener” passing shot winner past Novak Djokovic in his second-to-last point of his 7-6(3), 7-5, 7-5 semifinal victory at the U.S. Open. ‘That’s why it’s the greatest shot I ever hit in my life,” says Federer. “I was in a difficult position, I had nothing to lose. We (practice that) a lot actually but it never works.” Says Djokovic, “On those shots, you just say, ‘Well done, too good.’ What can you do?” Writes Diane Pucin of the Los Angeles Times of the famous shot, “On the next-to-last point of the match, Federer hit what he called the best shot of his life. Djokovic was serving and seemingly in control of the point, standing at the net and watching for his just-hit lob to land out of Federer’s reach. Except Federer materialized at the baseline just when the lob landed. With his back to the net, Federer swung the racket between his legs — and hit a clean winner past Djokovic. The crowd roared, and Federer’s forehand return winner that followed on match point was anticlimactic.”
