Roger Federer Eliminated From French Open

Roger Federer’s Grand Slam woes continue today as he exits the French Open in the quarterfinals.

Roger Federer Eliminated From French Open

Federer, the once dominant tennis superstar, has been struggling in Grand Slams since his win in Wimbledon in 2012. Since then, he has only made the finals once — Wimbledon 2014 — and also suffered from early round exits in four separates tournaments: before 2013, the last time he did not make at least the quarters was 2004.

And he has had by far his worst results during the French Open, never making it past the quarterfinals since his 2012 semifinal appearance. In fact, Federer has had the least success in Roland Garros, with only one Grand Slam win and a 65–16 record. To put that in perspective, he has above 70 wins in the other three grand slams.

Today, when facing Stan Wawrinka, who is enjoying a career resurgence at the ripe old age of 30, Federer was simply tossed around, never getting into any semblance of a rhythm. It is important to note that he did suffer an injury to his right hand, but Federer’s frustrations were evident prior to this.

Roger only won 68 percent of his first serves and his second serve fared worse with him only winning 56 percent of them. On top of this, Wawrinka dominated on serve, with Federer only winning 24 percent of return points: it was the first time since 2002 that he was unable to break an opponent during a Grand Slam match.

Add this to 26 unforced errors and only 28 winners — opposed to Wawrinka’s 43 winners — and you have the recipe for disaster. In the end, Federer lost in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (4).

“I played my best match in a Grand Slam tournament and my best match on clay,” Wawrinka told the press. He next takes on Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who just won a grueling five-set match against Kei Nishikori, in the semifinals.

As for Federer, he has a lot to overcome before Wimbledon, which begins June 29.

Article by Anthony Falco