By Richard Pagliaro | Friday, May 31, 2019
Roger Federer saved a set point in his 6-3, 6-1, 7-6 (8) sweep of Casper Ruud to streak into the Roland Garros fourth round. Our top takeaways from Federer's historic performance.
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Fans waved a crimson "Federer Forever" banner as Roger Federer walked out onto Court Suzanne Lenglen for today's third-round match.
Federer fans carry an emotional eternal flame for their favorite and the 37-year-old Swiss has responded torching through three rounds without dropping a set in his highly-anticipated Roland Garros return.
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The third-seeded Swiss saved a set point in the tie breaker subduing 20-year-old Casper Ruud, 6-3, 6-1, 7-6 (8) to roll into the Roland Garros fourth-round for a record 14th time.
An appreciative crowd relished the action as Federer charged through eight straight games to turn a 3-3 deadlock into a 6-3, 5-0 commanding lead.
Six-time Roland Garros champion Bjorn Borg, Federer's Laver Cup captain, sat next to six-time major champion Stefan Edberg, Federer's former coach, in the Swiss' support box. Uncle Toni Nadal, who heads the Rafa Nadal Academy where Ruud trains, sat two seats rmoved from Ruud's father, Christian Ruud, who reached the Roland Garros third round in 1999, the same year a teenage Federer fell to Patrick Rafter in his French Open debut.
Federer is pleased with his progress so far.
"I'm very happy," Federer said. "A few months ago I didn't know what to expect with anything, really. At this point, now I know where my level's at. I still don't know exactly where my absolute best is, you know, but I feel like it could be there. Maybe not, you know. I'm happy to find out.
"So I'm happy I'm putting myself in a position like this in a fourth round of the French Open after not having played so many years here. I think for me the first goal has been reached by getting this deep into the tournament, and knowing where the game's at, knowing where the fitness is, the mind."
Here's our Top 5 Takeaways from Federer's third-round victory as he aims to make a second-week run in Paris.
1. Major Milestones
The father of two sets of twins is the father timeless of tennis.
Federer's straight-sets win marked his 400th career Grand Slam singles match making him the only player, male or female, to contest 400 major singles matches in the Open Era.
At 37 years, 305 days, Federer is the oldest man to reach the Roland Garros round of 16 since Nicola Pietrangeli, at age 38 years 267 days, did it in 1972. Federer is the oldest man to advance to a Grand Slam fourth round since a 39-year-old Jimmy Connors did it six days after his birthday during his riveting run to the 1991 US Open semifinals.
A year after that US Open run, Connors revealed his primary concession to advancing age wasn't losing a half-step, but the fact his body did not recover as quickly between matches—a sentiment shared by the Swiss.
"I think probably the biggest difference I feel is just sometimes recovery from an injury or from a certain pain you feel takes longer," Federer said. "Like when you have maybe a blocked back as a teenager, it's really going to hurt you for the rest of the day and maybe the next day, and after that it's kind of gone. Whereas maybe if you have that at my age it might linger and stay around for a week, maybe a month."
2. Clay Creativity
Returning to Roland Garros after a four-year sabbatical, Federer has reminded French fans of the sheer shot-making joy he can express on the red clay canvas.
Midway through the second set today, Federer launched airborne for this snazzy, flick high-backhand volley winner making one of the toughest shots in tennis look as smooth as a serene snap of the wrist.
Clay-court tennis gives Federer time to create ingenious improvisation and his skill mixing slower slice backhands with heavier crackling forehands infuses opponents with more uncertainty on the shifting surface.
3. Forward March
All-court acumen is a Federer asset and he's used it through week one. Federer has won 20 or more net points in all three tournament victories so far.
On the warmest day of the tournament today, the Swiss won 21 of 27 trips to net, including sticking a forehand volley off the sideline a the start of the tie break and saving set point at 6-7 in the breaker with a smooth serve-and-volley play.
Federer said hotter conditions means a quicker court—even faster than some hard courts—which he tries to exploit with a forward flourish.
"On a sunny day, it can definitely play faster than in a night session on hard courts when you're talking medium, slow, or slow," Federer said. "Because the bad bounces, you know, on clay, that helps sometimes for the serve and volley, the footing is tougher to change direction quickly. So all these things can help the case to serve and volley."
4. Short & Sweet
One of the sharpest servers in the sport, Federer has shown the value of the short game on his return.
Through three rounds, Federer has broken serve 13 times often using the short slice return to trade baseliners forward. The chip return can be dangerous on dirt forcing opponents to move quickly and slide up to the short ball putting Federer in an offensive position on the next shot.
After falling to Federer at the 2018 US Open, Nick Kyrgios called the Swiss stylist's backhand chip return "the best the game has ever seen" adding "I think if you took that shot away, he wouldn't be as good because he neutralizes big serves as well. He turns it into pretty much instant offense."
5. Who's Next?
In his last Roland Garros appearance, Federer fell to compatriot Stan Wawrinka in the 2015 quarterfinals.
The third-seeded Swiss has a strong shot to return. Federer will face Argentine Leonardo Mayer as he plays for his 12th trip to the Roland Garros quarterfinals.