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June 29, 2005
Federer's game the grass standard
By Douglas Robson, USA Today
WIMBELDON, England — There are two ways to beat Roger Federer at a Grand Slam. Get to him before Sunday, or play him on your birthday. After capturing three of four majors in 2004, Federer lost semifinal matches this year to Marat Safin at the Australian Open and Rafael Nadal at the French Open. Both celebrated birthdays the day they beat him.
His only other loss in a major the last two years came in the third
round of the 2004 French Open - well before the final Sunday. Federer
already owns an Open-era record of 20 consecutive wins in ATP finals
dating back to July 2003.
"That won't happen this time, so I'm very, very confident," the
Swiss No. 1 said after defusing Fernando Gonzalez of Chile in
Wednesday's quarterfinals.
Federer next meets third seed Lleyton Hewitt. The Australian won't
turn 25 until February. The semifinal is Friday. In the other half of
the draw No. 2 seed Andy Roddick of the USA plays No. 12 seed Thomas
Johansson of Sweden.
"It's never easy to play a birthday boy," chuckles Federer, who reached his third consecutive Wimbledon semifinal. "That was unfortunate, but they played well to beat me. It was not pure luck or meant to be."
Federer's record on grass, though, looks increasingly like fate. The
23-year-old has not lost a match on the surface in more than three
years, a streak that spans 34 matches, second in the Open era only to
Bjorn Borg's 41 from 1976-81. Overall, he has won 19 consecutive
matches at the All England Club and dropped only four of 44 sets.
"It's not sort of my living room yet like other players used to call
it," says Federer when asked if Wimbledon was starting to feel like his
property. "But I'm sort of slowly starting to create or build a house
here."
"He has been the supreme player, especially on this surface," says Hewitt, who beat No. 26 seed Feliciano Lopez.
Against No. 21 seed Gonzalez, Federer showed the kind of all-court
variety that has dominated the men's tour for two years. Sprinting from
corner to corner to block back Gonzalez's fierce shots, Federer put on
a clinic of defensive tennis. He also unleashed offensive weapons,
including his forehand, forays to the net and well-placed serves.
"Probably his best match," says part-time coach Tony Roche, an
Australian who reached the Wimbledon final in 1968 and guided Ivan
Lendl to most of his Slams. "He's improved with each match, which is
always a good sign."
Despite his 56-3 record in 2005 and tour-leading seven titles,
Federer won't be happy unless he leaves with the hardware. He knows he
is measured by results in majors, which is why the losses this year to
Safin in Melbourne and Nadal in Paris weigh on him.
"It's a high standard and maybe I'm putting too much pressure on
myself," he says of his win-or-nothing attitude, adding that the two
losses "hurt me."
"Definitely if I walk out now and lose the semifinals I'd still be
pretty happy with the tournament, but I still would be very, very
disappointed. It would take me quite some time to get over it."
Considering his record in finals, Federer is well aware that he will be a heavy favorite if he gets by Hewitt.
"I'm sort of telling myself, 'Just get through to the finals because
in the finals I play good for sure and I'm so confident,' " he says.
Federer expects a tough match from Hewitt, a former No. 1 and
champion here in 2002. He holds a 9-8 career record against the
Australian but has won their last seven matches.
A finals rematch with Roddick is also in the offing if the
22-year-old gets by Johansson. Roddick beat France's Sebastien Grosjean
in the quarterfinals, his second five-set win here after losing his
last five that went the distance. Roddick lost to Federer in four sets
in the Wimbledon final in 2004.
"We've had some great matches in the past, and we have a great rivalry
going," says Federer of Hewitt. "With Andy in the mix, the three of us,
we've always had good matches."
Some might say Federer has slipped with no majors this year. But he
says if he can capture a third consecutive Wimbledon to go with three
Masters Series titles and semifinal finishes at the Australian Open and
French Open, the first half of 2005 looks better than 2004.
"This year has been fantastic so far," he says. "I definitely agree
that if I could win Wimbledon the first six months would be an absolute
dream."
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