Une balade means a stroll in French. It may not quite have been that for Roger Federer in the semifinals of the Paris Masters on Saturday, but he didn't overly exert himself in a clinical, 6-4, 6-3 victory over Tomas Berdych lasting just 80 minutes.
The tone was set in the very first game when Federer broke serve. He then lost just six points on serve the rest of the way in the opening set.
Berdych looked like he might make a move at 30-30, with Federer serving at 4-3. He controlled the point with big hitting, but a sliced backhand by Federer elicited a backhand error over the baseline by the Czech. That diffused the last threat in set one.
The second set began with another break for Federer, with Berdych hitting a lame forehand unforced error into the middle of the net on game point.
From there, it was pretty well clear sailing for Federer, who lost just two points in his next three service games. With Federer serving at 4-3, there might have been a chance for a last stand by the Czech. At 15-15, he bombed a cross-court backhand hard and deep—but Federer responded with a magnificent cross-court backhand of his own, a flick that went screaming past a semi-shocked Berdych. Federer won that game and then broke Berdych on four points to seal his 10th win in 14 career meetings, dating back to the 2004 Olympics.
“I think he was a little tired [from a three-hour,-12-minute match against Murray in Friday’s quarterfinals],” Federer said afterward, “and I was able to take advantage of that.”
After a bit of a sketchy performance at times against Juan Monaco in his quarterfinal, Federer’s form and stats were gaudy one day later—91 percent of first-serve points won, as well as 34 winners and just 13 unforced errors to Berdych’s 16 and 20. Six trips to the net all resulted in success, and he did not face a break point, while converting three of six on the Berdych delivery.
Looking forward to the possibility of facing Jo-Wilfried Tsonga—if the Frenchman beats John Isner in the second semifinal—Federer said on court afterward, “I think if it’s Jo, it will be a super. I’ve played Gael Monfils at Roland Garros and Gasquet here, but it’s not quite the same.
“I do prefer Jo, yes.”
That got a huge reaction from the crowd, as did his answer to a question about how he prepares for a match like Saturday’s semifinal. “When I was 17, I’d just jumped and down twice,” he joked. “When I was 25, I’d hit for five minutes. Now I hit for 25 minutes.”
If it is Tsonga, Federer leads 5-3 in their head-to-head. In five meetings in 2011, he came out ahead at Doha, Rome and at the U.S. Open, while Tsonga memorably won from two sets down at Wimbledon and in straight sets in Montreal.
Federer’s win over Berdych means he becomes the only player in history to have reached all nine Masters 1000 finals.
—Tom Tebbutt