Sunday, June 2, 2013

Roger Federer: Will the streak end today?

It's sometimes better to avoid the anxiety of following every point in a match and speculate about it on the blog. Currently, Roger Federer is down 2 sets to 1 to Gilles Simon after winning the first set.  Well, Roger Federer has been quite consistent. He has a running streak of 35 consecutive Grand Slam Quarter Finals. That means he has not lost before Quarter Finals in a Grand Slam for almost nine years...phew!!!

However, people only noticed this Quarter Final streak when he lost to Robin Soderling in the 2010 French Open Quarterfinals. Before that, he had a streak of 23 consecutive Semifinals at the Grand Slam stage. That's what, nearly 6 years! These are huge statistics of consistency. But no record goes on forever and today seems one such day.

As Federer right now plays Gilles Simon of France in the fourth round of the French Open, things don't seem too bright for him. He played and executed pretty well to take the first set 6-1 and seemed in control in the second. Simon wasn't playing bad at all but he needed something to change the way things were proceeding. And then suddenly, at 3-3 while reaching for a backhand, Federer got the toe stuck in the sand and took a tumble. 

There wasn't any visible injury but he surely lost his rhythm and lost his next service game. Simon leveled the match winning the second set. He upped the ante in the third set where Federer seem to struggle finding his range. Simon broke Federer twice in the third set, to win the third 6-2 and take a 2 sets to 1 lead.

What remains to be seen is how well Federer fights back and whether it will suffice? But as Rocky Balboa would say, "It ain't over, till it's over." 

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