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TENNIS

Wawrinka and Federer stunned in Monte Carlo

UPDATED: Switzerland's Roger Federer joined defending title holder Stan Wawrinka as an upset victim at the Monte Carlo Masters on Thursday as the 2014 finalist lost 6-4, 7-6 (7/5) to France's Gael Monfils.

Published: 16 April 2015 17:32 CEST
Wawrinka and Federer stunned in Monte Carlo
Federer leaves court after loss. Photo: Valery Hache/AFP

Grigor Dimitrov earlier stunned seventh seed Wawrinka 6-1, 6-2 in the third round.

The exit of 2014 Australian Open champion Wawrinka came a year after he won his first and only Masters 1000 title here.

The Lausanne native was well off his game, out in 54 minutes with 41 unforced errors and just four winners against ninth seed Dimitrov.

The ninth-ranked is now in danger of losing his top 10 ranking place.

World number two Federer missed the chance to reach the last eight in the principality, weighed down by 38 unforced errors against Monfils.

After losing a break for 3-1 in the opening set and standing 5-3 in the second-set tiebreak, 17-time Grand Slam winner Federer could not make much progress against the flashy French opponent who beat him in a Davis Cup rubber last November.

But the Swiss is far from giving up hope only a few days into the spring clay campaign leading to the Roland Garros start on May 24th.

"It was a good week for me anyway to come here and practice with the best, play a couple of matches," Federer said.

"At least gives me some information, if I'm trying to be a bit positive right now," he said.

"I'm going to go back to Switzerland and practice really hard, you know, from whatever the plan's going to be from tonight on until Istanbul."

Fourth seed Milos Raonic beat Spain's Tommy Robredo 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, while sixth seed Tomas Berdych defeated Roberto Bautista Agut 7-6 (9/7), 6-4.

Federer reached the final last year for the fourth time in his career — his loss is a setback just six weeks before the second Grand Slam of the season in Roland Garros.

Federer also missed his chance to win 200 ATP matches on both hard and clay courts.

The Swiss, who has a 633-129 record on hard courts, now holds a 199-63 record on clay. 

World number one Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal meanwhile later posted wins to head into the quarterfinals.

Top seed Djokovic dispatched Andreas Haider-Maurer of Austria 6-4, 6-0 to line up on Friday against US Open champion Marin Cilic, the number eight, who defeated French 11th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-3, 7-6 (7/5).
   
Djokovic, perhaps rushing to get home a few hundred metres to his flat to help with the evening bath of new son Stefan, needed only 56 minutes to win.

Nadal fought off a challenge from John Isner to earn a 7-6 (8/6), 4-6, 6-3 win and said the success marked a big step in his comeback effort.

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ROGER FEDERER

Is this the end of the road for Swiss tennis legend Roger Federer?

Roger Federer is talking optimistically about returning to his "highest level" after knee surgery, but does tennis have to start adjusting to a future without the Swiss star?

Published: 11 June 2020 16:22 CEST
Is this the end of the road for Swiss tennis legend Roger Federer?
Is it the end of the line for Roger? Photo: Martin BUREAU / AFP

The 20-time Grand Slam winner announced on Wednesday that he would be sidelined until 2021 after his second operation in a matter of months.

Federer remains upbeat, tweeting: “I plan to take the necessary time to be 100 percent ready to play at my highest level.”

In some ways 2020 is a good season to miss after the coronavirus ravaged the tennis schedule. Writing Federer off in the past has proved dangerous.

He returned from a six-month injury lay-off to claim the Australian Open in 2017, winning his eighth Wimbledon crown later that year.

But he will be 40 in 2021 and is now heading into uncharted territory.

Despite his groaning trophy cabinet, there are two factors that will motivate Federer to keep going — the risk of losing his grip on the men's Grand Slam title record and a missing Olympics singles gold medal.

Rafael Nadal has 19 majors, just one shy of Federer's mark and Djokovic has 17.

Spain's Nadal will be fancied to draw level with Federer at the French Open, rescheduled for September, while few would bet against Djokovic winning in New York weeks earlier.

In April, Federer said he was “devastated” when Wimbledon was cancelled for the first time since World War II. Last year he fell agonisingly short at the All England Club, failing to convert two championship points on his own serve against Djokovic.

The Wimbledon grass probably remains his best chance of adding to his Grand Slam collection — he has not won the US Open since 2008 and his only title at Roland Garros came in 2009.

Even though Federer has slipped from the very pinnacle of the game, he is still a major threat to Nadal and Djokovic.

'Golden' ambitions

Last year, the world number four had a 53-10 win-loss record and he reached the semi-finals at the Australian Open in January in his only tournament this year.

Federer, who is still six ATP titles short of Jimmy Connors' all-time record of 109, has one glaring omission from his CV — the Olympic title.

The Swiss won doubles gold in Beijing in 2008 with compatriot Stan Wawrinka but lost in the singles final to Andy Murray in London four years later.

The postponed Tokyo Games will almost certainly be Federer's last opportunity to complete a career “golden” Grand Slam — he will turn 40 on the day of the closing ceremony next year.

Tennis will feel the loss of the elegant Federer keenly when he walks off the court for the last time.

Djokovic and Nadal have been the dominant forces in recent years but the Swiss remains the biggest draw and last month topped Forbes' list of the world's highest-earning athletes.

His last appearance on court was in front of nearly 52,000 fans — touted by organisers as a world record for tennis — at a charity match against Nadal in Cape Town in February.

Federer is nearly always the crowd favourite wherever he plays and has proved a perfect ambassador for the sport since he won his first Grand Slam title in 2003.

He certainly expects to be back and competitive next year.

“I will be missing my fans and the tour dearly but I will look forward to seeing everyone back on tour at the start of the 2021 season,” he tweeted.

The avalanche of support from his adoring fans showed they would miss him too, but they will have to get used to a time when he is gone for good.

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