Federer fights Wawrinka to win Nadal SF at Roland Garros | ATP Tour

Roger Federer is competing at Roland Garros for the first time in four years, but that certainly has not seemed the same in a fortnight.

After grabbing his control of former world No. 3 Stan Wawrinka on Tuesday, mistakes and missed opportunities began to accumulate for Federer, while he was suddenly at two. Wawrinka's strength points on two sets to one. But the 2009 titlist remained calm and regained momentum in the roller coaster game by winning a decisive game in the third set. Only adrenaline has dissipated when there is a rain delay of more than an hour.

But instead of weakening, Federer took over the game to defeat his Swiss compatriots 7-6 (4), 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 after three hours and 35 minutes, advancing midway through. final on the Parisian land for the first time since 2012.

Federer will soon meet his biggest rival, the 11-time champion, Rafael Nadal, for the first time since 2017 in Shanghai. They were ready to fight in the semi-finals of this year's BNP Paribas Open, but Nadal retired due to an injury. Their 39th FedEx ATP Head2Head showdown (Nadal leading 23-15) will be their first on clay since 2013 in Rome.

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This may be about Federer's quarter-final win over Wawrinka, who ousted him in the last eight years, four years ago. Federer now leads his good friend 23-3 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head, but when entering the match, the 37-year-old had only a 4-3 advantage on clay.

The third seed struggled to convert the break points, winning only two of the 18 points in the match, while Wawrinka was still aggressive to take things in hand. But Federer kept his cool in the decisive game by releasing only two combined points of service, which proved vital.

At the start of the match, Federer was on duty, using a lot of variety in the backhand – playing big, finding the crossing angle short and varying the pace of trading with a small chip – to meet his requirements. But the world champion, 101 times in the round, missed his first eight chances of the match, while Wawrinka was not afraid to go under pressure.

Federer vs. Wawrinka Stats

Those missed chances came back to haunt Federer, while Wawrinka, three-time Grand Slam champion, converted his first two points, using the first to win the second set and the next to take a 4- lead. 3 to the third. together. Suddenly, Federer started to miss his shots while he was further away from the end line. Wawrinka added even more power to his powerful shots to crush his compatriot during rallies and put more pressure on the world No. 3 to get more positions more difficult.

But Wawrinka, who needed five hours and nine minutes to win his fourth-round match against defending champion ATP Next Generation Final, Stefanos Tsitsipas, finally qualified at 4-3 in the third. In the seventh different match in which he faced a break, seed number 24 slowed down on a low approach shot near the service line, and the ball sailed well for a long time to allow Federer to come back in the service.

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And from there, Federer started to find his rhythm of service and to go back in the exchanges, multiplying the shots on the goal and by using a return flight in the decisive game to take the lead before finishing the third set.

When Swiss stars returned to the court, Suzanne Lenglen, at 3-3 of the fourth set, Federer made it clear that she intended to run around her backhand to strike home shots when returning to second serve, having missed many backhands much earlier. And this strategy paid off, scoring 5-4 before winning a decisive point with a thoughtful volley resumption as he contested the match, triumphing with a volley in the open field.

Federer, 37, is the second oldest man to go to the semi-finals at Roland Garros. Only Pancho Gonzales, who was 40 in 1968, was older. He is the longest-serving semifinalist since Jimmy Connors, 39, at the US Open in 1991.

Wawrinka, who won his 500th round thanks to his triumph in the second round against Grigor Dimitrov, continued his fourth semifinal at Roland Garros. Aged 34, he underwent two knee surgeries in August 2017. Since then, he's struggling to regain form, falling to 263rd in the ATP rankings last June. Wawrinka will return to the Top 20 next Monday.

Did you know?
Federer had not won a best-of-five match that has lasted more than three sets since the 2018 Australian Open final, when he beat Marin Cilic in five sets.