Roger Federer’s 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 victory over Mikhail Youzhny was a lot about getting the W, and not worrying too much about how he got it.
Even though the two 29-year-olds hadn’t played each other in over four years, the fact that Federer led their head-to-head 10-0, and had won the previous 16 sets they had played (dating back to 2003), had to make him feel confident going into the match.
There was something of an uninspired quality to the first set, with nothing but service holds and no games even going to deuce. When Federer got the mini-break on a Youzhny double fault to lead 2-1 in the tiebreak, and then pulled ahead 4-2, it was hard to imagine anything but an opening-set win for the Swiss. But Federer missed a forehand wide up 4-3, and Youzhny struck a backhand volley winner at 5-4 to give him the lead and momentum. On the next point, Federer seemed to want to out-macho Youzhny, belting some shots as if to show who was boss. He eventually over-hit a forehand, but still had a chance after Youzhny’s backhand error on his first set point. But on the second, it was Federer’s turn to miss, weakly hitting a sliced backhand into the net.
That was the set, in 54 minutes, and Youzhny had to be hopeful—until Federer broke serve to 3-2 in the second set, with a forehand drop shot that hit the tape and fell over for him. Youzhny’s balloon burst again at the beginning of the third set, when Federer rallied from love-40 in the opening game to hold, and then immediately broke, the ultimate point being a double fault. From then on, the outcome was rarely in doubt.
Federer might be concerned about a first set when he failed to impose his game, but afterward he was reenergized and asserted his superiority against an athletic, aggressive opponent who played with a nothing-to-lose attitude. Youzhny’s battling until the end brought out the best in Federer’s wide repertoire of shots. He may have peaked on the final two points of the third set, muscling a huge, cross-court forehand that Youzhny couldn’t handle, and then an inside-out, ridiculously-angled, unreturnable forehand that took the set.
Federer’s match stats—including going 32 of 42 at the net and only one service game lost—were solid, and he even broke out the “tweener” in the third set, which won him a point thanks to Youzhny’s bungled smash attempt. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Federer’s quarterfinal opponent, is forewarned—the six-time champ came around against Youzhny and is now playing the kind of tennis he needs, heading into the last three rounds.
—Tom Tebbutt