Losing a set to someone capable of serving at 147 miles an hour will not spread panic in Roger Federer’s Wimbledon household, but then the coolest player ever to come down from the Swiss mountains has never been one for overreacting.
Nonetheless, the second seed did have to sweat a little on Centre Court on Saturday to get by Sam Groth 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-2 in two and a quarter hours and book a fourth-round match against Roberto Bautista Agut on Monday. The 27-year-old Spaniard with the sharp grass-court game took a mere 95 minutes to beat the Georgian qualifier Nikoloz Basilashvili 7-6 (7-4), 6-0, 6-1 on Court 12.
If Federer beats Bautista Agut, the 20th seed, the prospect of a semi-final towards the end of the second week against Andy Murray, who beat Andreas Seppi on Saturday night, will begin to occupy his thoughts. As of now, he has negotiated the first three rounds comfortably, regrouping quickly against Groth after the Australian lifted his game to win the third-set tie-break.
Groth at times in the second half of the contest played above his world ranking of 69, bringing touch and craft to his work at the net in some fascinating exchanges with an opponent who has won 17 grand slam titles. At other moments, however, he looked one-dimensional, and Federer devours players he can read easily.
Once the Swiss had come to terms with the power of Groth’s monstrous serve – he holds the record for the world’s fastest, 163mph, and touched the second-fastest at Wimbledon, 147mph, in the first set here – the task of fashioning a win became that much easier.
As he explained later about adjusting his game against someone capable of pinning him to the backboard: “The only thing I really have to change is my returning. The rest, the service games, I can control them myself. Once the return is played, then it’s about reaction, especially when he’s serve-volleying. You get to the next one, hit a pass.
“It’s about keeping a short backswing on the return, trying to see it. And then also sometimes guessing the right way at the right times, remembering patterns where he’s gone to, where he’s been successful, and where not.
“The same for me: what to do on second serves, what to do on first serves. It’s a constant reminder what has been going on the [previous] five minutes and what has been going on the past two hours. That’s the biggest effort for me anyway when I play a big server: understanding those patterns.”
Federer makes it so easy – and he often makes it look so simple, too. But there were anxious moments towards the end of a tough, competitive third set that might inspire prospective opponents here to wonder if they, too, can unsettle the serenity of his elegant tennis.
Bautista Agut is a solid rather than explosive presence on court and will make things as difficult for Federer as his accomplished game allows. Once the Spaniard had negotiated the tie-break in the first set against the 23-year-old Basilashvili – who is ranked 153 in the world, it should be remembered – he coasted home, bagelling him in the second then closing it out in style.
Federer, of course, will present him with a challenge at the polar opposite of the tennis universe. He spoke afterwards of his late-career growth, dwelling on his partnership with Stefan Edberg, a player he admired when young and now employs as his coach.
“I don’t want to say I’m less nervous, but I’m more comfortable around Stefan,” Federer said. “When you spend time with someone you’ve looked up to your entire life, it’s a bit awkward in the beginning. You’re not quite sure what you’re allowed to ask, what you’re allowed to say, all these things. Those fears are somewhat gone, even though, every time he steps into the house, I’m like I can’t believe it quite still, so it’s very cool.
“He knows all the tournaments again, because he hasn’t been to many tournaments for so many years. I had to show him around a little bit: this is a locker room, this is a practice court. It’s actually been quite fun showing him again how it’s done.
“And for him it’s important to be comfortable in the team, in the beginning getting to know everyone – my wife, my physio, my agent. It’s been good fun.
“Now it’s just very straightforward. We know when to speak about it, when not. In the beginning, you maybe force [the communication] a little bit more. Maybe he tries to say a little more than he should, and I request more than I should. Now he knows exactly when to say what, which is comfortable.”
