Wizardry and weather define Nadal’s semifinal win over Federer at the French Open
Roger Federer went into the semifinal at Roland Garros as the underdog, but the conclusion was an unsurprising three sets loss, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.
Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer played under debilitating conditions on Friday, with wind gusts of 35 mph. Temperatures dropped to 60 degrees. With the wind chill, the atmosphere produced wintry conditions and the wind gusts kicked up the orange dirt into both players’ eyes, and debris had to be cleared from the court.
But one man acclimated, and that man is the one who has owned the surface for over a decade now: Rafael Nadal. The winds bothered both competitors, but it wreaked havoc the most on Roger Federer’s serve, one of his biggest assets. Fed’s second serve was down 20 mph, forcing the Swiss player to play conservative. Even his first serves clocked in at a dismal 62 percent compared with Rafa’s 84 percent.
The 11-time RG champion broke early in the first set, setting the tone, but Federer was able to repay the favor later in the set. However, like in the match against his compatriot Stan Wawrinka, he was unable to convert most of his break chances, capitalizing on just two of them, with Nadal composing himself to convert six. Nadal displayed the customary ruthlessness he’s peppered his playing with the entire tournament, producing only 19 unforced errors and 33 thrilling winners.
It’s not that Federer played all that poorly. He produced 25 winners, with plenty of vintage shots that elicited gasps from the audience. It’s just that Rafa was astonishing, demonstrating why he has produced an awe-inspiring 92-2 win loss record at Roland Garros. The only two players to collect wins on him at the French were Novak Djokovic in 2015, and a shocking Robin Soderling in 2009 (the year that Fed went on to win the title).
With the French Open victory, Rafael Nadal scores a much needed win over his great rival, after seeing the Swiss best him on hard-courts the last five times. Federer owns their head-to-head stats on all surfaces but clay, although the clay victories are so superior in number that they give Nadal the overall dominant 24 to 15. The match was not the close fight some expected, giving the Spaniard a 6-0 record over his tennis rival at RG.
Federer was clearly frustrated with the conditions and the tenor of the match, even losing his customary cool by lobbing a tennis ball into the stands, and receiving a warning. But it’s been four years since the Paris crowds have seen the 20-time slam champion grace the Terre Batu, and they were ecstatic to have him back. He left the court to a standing ovation with the crowds chanting his first name over and over.
Considering that the tennis legend got to the semifinals of the clay grand slam after a three-year absence on the surface, it’s still impressive. Federer concludes his clay season having racked up extra ATP points and an impressive performance where he defeated plenty of players not named Nadal.
“Crowd support couldn’t have been better,” Federer said in his press conference afterwards, according to USA Today. “Maybe one of the best ever in my entire 20-year career that I’ve been on tour at a slam. Them always being there for me, supporting me, in practice, at the matches, on the grounds. Whenever I came and showed up, they were always happy to see me, so that was nice.”
Federer is still looking for grand slam number 21 and will be considered the favorite — along with Djokovic — at Wimbledon, where he owns a record eight titles.
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Nadal will be going for an unbelievable 12 titles at Roland Garros on Sunday (that is, if the weather cooperates). If he succeeds, he will own the most trophies of a single grand slam, man or woman (surpassing Marget Court’s 11 Australian Opens). He will also get to his 18th major, putting him just two behind Federer’s.
Nadal will have to wait to see who he will face, since the semifinal between Novak Djokovic and Dominic Thiem was cancelled due to the nasty weather, in the middle of the third. The Austrian was up a break, 6-2, 3-6, 3-1. Already in trouble for the controversial decision to move the women’s semifinals to side courts due to weather, hopefully the French Open officials will get their act together to get that roof built by next year, after years’ of promising. Having the men’s semifinal conclude on Saturday is a terrible state of affairs.
The second men’s semifinal will take place on Saturday, June 8, at 5:00 a.m. ET, with the women’s final scheduled directly afterwards at 9:00 a.m, viewable on NBC and the Tennis Channel.