Wimbledon 2010, the surprises continue as Federer’s reign comes to an end
Centre court was stunned into silence, Berdych pointed towards the players box and the reigning champion Federer looked towards the ground. The inevitable had just taken place on the lawns of the All England Club for the first time since 2002. The man from the Czech Republic had pulled of the biggest win of his career and the defending champion had been shown the door. Roger Federer’s quest for a seventh Wimbledon title had been halted and his chance for equalling Pete Sampras’s record had been delayed till next year. Federer came close to losing in the opening match, but now he has finally been put out of his misery.
As the clock struck one, the reigning champion of Wimbledon came out on Centre Court to play his quarterfinal match against the big serving Tomas Berdych. Federer had picked up steam after his five and four set matches in his first two games and was looking to continue that momentum all the way to the final. Little did he know what surprises awaited him. On paper, this match should have been a breeze for Federer, but his performance let him down. He handed Berdych major points throughout the match thus ending his reign in just over two and a half hours 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4. Federer had not lost early in Wimbledon ever since 2002, when he lost in the first round. This sinking feeling was alien to Federer who had appeared in twenty three consecutive grand slam semi finals before bowing out of the French Open in the quarterfinals this year.
Roger Federer was not only overshadowed in height, Berdych standing at six feet five inches compared to Federer’s six foot one inch, but also on the court. The first set was on serve until Federer’s dwindling serve was broken in the seventh game. Berdych very calmly took advantage of this situation and snatched the first set from under the champion’s nose. His statistics in the first set were far superior with eighty nine percent points won on his serve and four aces. Federer looked out of sorts. However, he rallied back in the second set and with the help of untimely double faults from Berdych, Federer levelled the scores.
Roger Federer had led the head to head between the two players by eight matches to two. However, the fast, dry grass courts of Wimbledon propelled Berdych’s power even further. The head to head did not matter once Berdych started to blitz his ground strokes, which Federer had difficulty in reading. He fired his ammunition with a great deal of accuracy such that Federer could not keep up with.
With the defending champion taking the second set due to his excellent serves and volleys, one would have thought his resurgence had begun. However, that was far from reality. In fact, this was probably the worst set for Federer in the entire tournament as he was just able to win one game. In a matter of few minutes Berdych was up 3-0 and breaking Federer again he raced up to 5-1. Federer was not able to connect his racquet to Berdych’s shots and it was his eleventh ace that helped Berdych increase his lead to two sets.
It has been widely known in the tennis circles that nerves get the better of Berdych in big matches, with him losing matches that he could have won. He was playing in the biggest show court against the best player on grass and almost on the verge of causing an upset; he had to control his nerves. However, Berdych did look edgy in the fourth set, with some untimely double faults. He broke Federer in the seventh game of the match at 4-3. All Berdych now had to do was sustain that break and play out his service game. Defying all odds Berdych served for the match at 5-4. Federer saved the first match point, but that was just delaying the inevitable. It was a forehand approach winner that sealed Federer’s fate. Federer’s fairytale had ended and Berdych booked his berth in the semi final.
Wimbledon 2010 has been full of surprises and this one was the biggest of them all. Roger Federer with this defeat has now fallen to world number three, for the first time ever since 2003. He may blame the loss on back and leg injuries but in reality it may just be the turning point of an era.
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