Wimbledon 2010: Roger Federer Survives One of the Biggest Upsets in Tennis History as he beats Alejandro Falla
Roger Federer, the Wimbledon number 1 survived the biggest twist in tennis history. He made a comeback with two sets short to beat Alejandro Falla in the opening match at Wimbledon. In the end, Federer won the match with 5-7 4-6 6-4 7-6 (7-1) 6-0 after making a quick comeback. From the start, he felt pressure as the Colombian started dominating the opening sets. The match was one of the greatest in tennis history and ended with the former number 1 at last surviving in the end.
Federer after surpassing Pete Sampras Grand Slam record last year at England’s Club is now looking to win his 7th Wimbledon title. Federer has previously won overall 16 Grand Slam which include six Wimbledon titles. His hope of winning the Wimbledon title this year seemed to tremble, as Falla started to dominate him early in the set. Federer parents were in the Royal Box supporting their child in his quest to win the championship again this year. Federer last year on this court defeated Andy Roddick’s in the final by 16-14. He never thought Falla would be of that challenge and started the set in a relax way but soon felt in pressure after Falla took the first set from his hand.
Falla had played with Federer on four previous occasions and at that time and lost all his matches. His recent match against Federer was at Halle, two weeks ago when he lost 6-1, 6-2. Federer for the last few months hasn’t looked dominant in the court as he used to be. After his triumph at the Australian Open championship in January, he has failed to earn any other Grand Slam title. Federer’s record of 23 straight Semis final wins at Grand Slam ended after he was defeated by Robin Soderling at this year’s French Open. His recent defeat was from Lleyton Hewitt in the Halle final. Federer thought that he would easily overcome Falla at his favourite court but was wrong, as the Columbian struggled hard and showed determination.
As the first set started, the Columbian immediately went after the ball and smashed it back strongly towards Federer. Federer’s performance in first set looked extremely flat, but he soon broke it into a 6-5 lead. At that point, it seemed that the Wimbledon top seed will make his way back and will found a way to react to the challenge. However, Federer was not able to react back and therefore lost the first set at Wimbledon. The same happened in the second set as the Swiss again was not able to defeat Falla. As Falla took two sets lead he hesitated for the first time, but Federer was still not able to take advantage. The Columbian lost two break points and missed an easy hit on his fourth set point. The Colombian soon called a physician as he suffered from an injury and thus his movement began to slow down.
Falla again stunned the crowd at Centre court after he won the first game of the fourth set. Federer kept his mind clear and waited for his opportunity to grasp. A drop shot from Falla earned two more points for Federer and then a huge for hand thus finished the job. Still Federer felt danger and thus saved a break point early in the next game. The fifth set lasted for 27 minutes and ended soon. In the deciding fifth set, the six-time champion hit the ball hard all over the court and stood victorious in the end.
The whole crowd was shocked on Falla’s game and gave standing ovation to both of the players on such a thrilling and dramatic match. Federer needs to improve his game more in order to survive this year in Wimbledon. Federer will now play Serbia’s Ilija Bozoljac in the second round of Wimbledon.
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