TENNIS AUSTRALIAN OPEN:AS ELEGANTLY as he moves, as smoothly flow his delicate strokes and his five-language rhetoric, Roger Federer is no less vulnerable than his peers to the pressures of his sport. The difference is, as he demonstrated when surviving an intense examination of his composure by Gilles Simon in the second round of the Australian Open, he can still draw on powers that seem outrageous to everyone but himself.
Foes and doubters will probably see further evidence of his gradual decline in this heart-stopper stretched over three hours and 19 minutes, which ultimately went Federer’s way 6-2, 6-3, 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, and he too may feel under more pressure now than he did at the start of the tournament.
Indeed those left on his side of the draw, including Novak Djokovic and his opponent in the third round tomorrow, the Belgian Xavier Malisse, may be less uncomfortable when they look across the net at him from now on.
Yet Federer remains a ruthless punisher of even minor mistakes. The Rod Laver Arena swayed to his every fightback in the fifth set, and he got the job done yet again as Simon wilted, even though it took every sinew of the Swiss’s will and talent.
“Yes, I was tired,” Simon said. “I had to run everywhere for three hours. There are not too many players who can play longer than me, but Roger is one of them.”
Of the many astounding statistics that illuminate Federer’s career is that of his nerveless ability to close out a match when in front. The only times he has lost after being two sets up were against Lleyton Hewitt in the Davis Cup in 2003, and against David Nalbandian in 2005.
Nevertheless, for a long while in the middle of this match, that record was in jeopardy. The world number two looked bereft of ideas. Simon had his measure in timing and tactics, as he drew him on to the punch at the net, only to pass and lob, sometimes with chilling ease.
Federer likes to give the impression that he always plays within himself, but that was not consistently the case. From the moment in the third set when the Frenchman discovered a reservoir of self-belief that surprised even him until he was broken in the final stanza, there were no guarantees, no certainties.
The anxiety that invaded Federer’s normally expressionless, sweat-free features when he was battling to save the set, the match and his aura, spoke far more eloquently than his post-match dismissal of the crisis as a passing danger – or even proof that he still has a fifth gear.
“Four or five sets, what’s the difference really?” he said, with mock flippancy.
“Doesn’t matter if you win in straight or in five. Just keep on moving on in the draw.”
Federer’s concerns were real enough – and not dissimilar to those that consumed him on Centre Court at Wimbledon last June, when the then world number 60, Colombia’s Alejandro Falla, took the first two sets in a first-round match. Then, Federer recovered his poise to win in five sets.
Here, although he would not agree, he betrayed the sort of fear he has induced in others. It was not just the prospect of defeat, coming after some wayward performances last year, that reduced him to a toiling mortal. It was the excellence of his opponent. Nobody has a divine right to rule, not even a tennis god.
“He’s a great player,” Federer said of Simon.
“Matches against him don’t come easy. It’s my first win against him (in three attempts); they always go the distance. Hopefully I don’t play him any more. I wasn’t playing poorly to lose the third and fourth set – Gilles really took it to me. I got lucky and I’m happy I’m still in the tournament.”
Venus Williams, who hobbles into the third round carrying a worrying groin injury, is there for the taking. The American says she will make every effort to get on court tomorrow but, clearly, she is struggling after piercing the Melbourne air with a scream that filled the Rod Laver Arena during her match against Sandra Zahlavova. She has torn a major groin muscle called the psoas, which links the vertebral column to the pelvis.
Near the end of a first-round tie-break on her way to beating Zahlavova 6-7, 6-0, 6-4, Williams let out the scream that prompted Andy Murray to exchange tweets with Patrick McEnroe.
“Was a lot of noise out there on Laver!” Murray said. “Thought someone was giving birth. Never heard so much noise in a tennis match.”
“It’s the most acute (pain) I’ve ever had,” Williams said. “I’m going to just try to recover for Friday.”
Williams will now play 30th seed Andrea Petkovic, who was given an almighty scare by British qualifier Anne Keothavong before coming through 2-6, 7-5, 6-0.
Caroline Wozniacki’s bid to land her first grand slam crown gathered pace as she secured a convincing win over Vania King to ease into round three. The Dane, was far too good for American King, winning 6-1, 6-0 in under an hour.
It was a marked improvement on her opening-round display against Gisela Dulko and Wozniacki was pleased with her performance.
“I definitely felt like I was playing good tennis today,” she said. “I was playing aggressively, I was playing my game and I felt comfortable out there. I think I took the balls early, I made her run. I had a couple of good net approaches . . . I just think in general I played a really good and solid match.”
Guardian Service
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