Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal seem to be operating in their own dimension at this French Open, moving into the quarter-finals with uncanny synchronicity on Sundayby the same score against two unseeded Argentinians, 6-2, 6-3, 6-3, and on course for a 39th meeting in semi-finals.
There is a little work for them to do yet after Federer accounted for Leonardo Mayer in an hour and 42 minutes and Nadal taking two hours 13 minutes to beat Mayer’s compatriot Juan Ignacio Londero. Neither winner has been properly stretched in the first week, although the Spaniard, who turns 33 on Monday , did drop a set against David Goffin on Friday. It was more a blip than a collapse, though, and the defending champion is in good shape as he chases his 12th title here.
Still, he did not reckon it was a cakewalk against Londero, who is ranked 78 in the world and has won a single title on Tour – to Nadal’s 81. “It’s been a very difficult day,” the No 2 seed said. “It was very windy out there.”
He also received a time violation in the eighth game, which did not amuse him, as he blamed the delay on a distraction caused by people talking within earshot. “We need the umpires to understand we need to stop [sometimes] – and they’re doing a good job, being honest. I was late that time, that’s true.” He also tapped an overhead television cable with his head, and rightly pointed out: “The camera shouldn’t be so close that I can touch it.”
Federer’s progress was incident-free. He is in his 12th French quarter-final and 54th in a slam. Only 40-year-old Pancho Gonzales in 1968 and the 39-year-old Hungarian Istvan Gulyas in 1971 have been older going into the second week. Federer is 38 in August, but he looks as fresh as ever. “We didn’t have many baseline rallies,” he said. “It’s fast, it’s swirly – especially on one side – you have a lot of wind at your back. It’s like you’re serving from sort of a tree, from a mountain. And, from the other one, you feel like you’re playing up the hill. I did that well.”
Struggle is for others, it seems – especially his Swiss compatriot and long-time friend Stan Wawrinka. After an epic struggle on Court Suzanne Lenglen, lasting five hours and nine minutes – by some way the longest of the tournament – on a hot afternoon, Wawrinka, seeded 24th, struck the very outside of a white line with one of his many single-handed backhands to win 7-6 (6), 5-7, 6-4, 3-6, 8-6 against the No 6 seed, Stefanos Tsitsipas, who had gone shot for shot with the garlanded Swiss from the first ball.
Their embrace at the net told the story, although disappointment etched the young Greek’s face. He is emotional and committed to the rigours of his sport, which is no bad thing for drama and excitement.
For Wawrinka, who has hit a rich vein of form, there was relief and no little joy. He saved 22 of 27 break points, eight of them in the final set. That is a proper dogfight.
Tsitsipas said later: “Never experienced anything like this in my life. It’s been a long time since I cried after a match. So, emotionally, it wasn’t easy to handle. I will try to learn from it.”
