ESPN
June 6 2006
Federer found a way to beat Nalbandian
By Whit Sheppard
Special to ESPN.com
PARIS — Pffffftttt.
That was the sound that seemed to linger in the air early Friday
afternoon as the French Open final everyone wants to see appeared to
be on the verge of dissolving.
With No. 3 David Nalbandian leading world No. 1 Roger Federer 6-3,
3-0 in the day’s first semifinal, prospects seemed shaky for a Sunday
matchup between top-seeded Federer and No. 2 Rafael Nadal, who will
stand in the way of Federer’s quest to make tennis history.
Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
Nalbandian (l) pushed Federer before an abdominal injury forced the
Argentine to retire from the match.
If Federer wins Sunday, he will have won the tennis equivalent of the
Tiger Slam, capturing all four tennis majors consecutively, something
that hasn’t been accomplished since Rod Laver won all four Slams in
the same calendar year in 1969.
The Swiss will have a great chance to equal Laver’s achievement if he
triumphs Sunday because he’ll be heading to Wimbledon, where he has
won three straight titles, then the U.S. Open, which he has won the
previous two years.
But first, he had to find a way to pull his game together and get
past a hot-starting Nalbandian.
“I couldn’t explain why I had such a bad start,” Federer said. “All
of a sudden, he pulled away and I couldn’t keep the ball in play.
That’s definitely got something to do with the long history I’ve had
with him.”
Nalbandian, who until today was one of three active players with a
winning record (6-5) against Federer, had broken the vaunted Federer
serve three times and looked to be in control on a windswept Court
Philippe Chatrier. But control is the smooth Swiss’ domain on all but
the rarest of occasions, and he regained a measure of it shortly
thereafter.
Having fought his way back to 3-all in the second set, Federer hit a
you-had-to-see-it-to-believe-it forehand winner off his shoetops with
his back turned to his disbelieving opponent, then raised a lone
digit into the blue Parisian sky as cheers rained down upon him. The
gesture was decidedly un-Federer-like, but it was appropriate — and
telling.
“I thought, ‘Somehow, I have to find a way to get into the match,'”
Federer said. “I knew that something had to happen. That it took a
shot like that, that’s quite interesting. I can’t pull those off on a
consistent basis.”
Nalbandian’s take on the shot: “Incredible, incredible.”
Less than an hour later, Nalbandian — who earlier in the third set
had been visited courtside by a trainer — abandoned the match at a
set apiece, with Federer up 5-2, because of a recurrence of a
strained abdominal muscle he incurred Wednesday in his quarterfinal
win over Nikolay Davydenko.
“In the beginning of today, I feel hundred percent, I feel perfect,”
he said. “And then in the middle of the second set, I feel it again
much worse than [against] Davydenko. So, that was tough.”
It was a strangely anticlimactic way to finish a Grand Slam
semifinal, reminiscent of Justine Henin-Hardenne’s injury pullout
earlier this year against Amélie Mauresmo in the Australian Open
women’s final.
“It’s true, it doesn’t usually happen that someone actually starts
playing a match and then gives up halfway through,” Federer said.
“It’s a bit unfortunate to win a match like this in a semifinal. But
I think I worked to put myself in that position.”
Federer heads to Sunday’s final as rested as one could hope to be
after six matches on the terre battue at Roland Garros and should be
the fresher player. To say he’ll have his work cut out for him,
though, is a gross understatement. Nadal leads their head-to-head
series 5-1 and has beaten Federer in Masters Series finals in Monte
Carlo and Rome this spring. He also is riding a 59-match winning
streak on clay, establishing a new men’s record.
Asked whether he had contemplated his date with history, Federer
paused for a moment, smiled shyly, and said, “Yes. I have.”
He added, “I have created a fabulous opportunity for myself, so we’ll
see if I can make it good. It would be something quite incredible
because I’ll be winning two things at the same time.”
Don’t bet against it.