Fighting Federer survives epic
Roger Federer battled through to quarter-finals of French Open
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Monday, 01, Jun 2009 11:07
World number two Roger Federer is through to the quarter-finals of the French Open after a marathon five-set encounter against unseeded Tommy Haas.
The Swiss star looked to be on the verge of throwing away the best chance since 2004 of lifting the only grand slam that has eluded him so far, as he slipped two sets behind against the in-form German.
Haas also had two break points on the Federer serve in the eighth game of the third set, which would effectively have put the underdog through.
But a battling performance from the fired-up 27-year-old saw him turn the match around in dramatic fashion and seal a 6-7 5-7 6-4 6-0 6-2 win.
Haas started well, matching Federer shot for shot on his own serve - but throughout the first set he failed to make an impression on the number two seed's serve.
Nevertheless, the German forced a tiebreak and turned on the style when it mattered - firing a winner to take the set 7-6.
Things looked back on course for Federer in the second as he broke Haas early on for a 2-1 advantage but surrendered his advantage soon afterwards as the unseeded player took the initiative.
Just when it looked like it another tiebreak was on the cards, though, Haas came up with the crucial break while leading 6-5, as Federer netted a routine forehand to put him in serious trouble.
A disjointed Federer looked to be sliding to defeat as he continually missed easy chances to wrestle the match away from Haas but the major turning point came at 3-4 on the Swiss maestro's serve.
After saving one break point, Federer then fluffed his lines again to hand the German a second chance at it but a brilliant point saw the favourite land a cross-court forehand on the line - his cry of relief and delight marking a first show of emotion from him.
From that point onwards, it was all Federer as he broke for a 5-4 advantage before serving out the set; racing to level things up with a 6-0 demolition job in the fourth; then breaking twice in the final set after a solid start from Haas gave the impression things would return to a more even keel.
And with the chance to close out the contest, serving at 5-2 up with a double break, Federer needed only two match points to seal his place in the last-eight as a Haas return went wide at 40-30.
The win, which was greeted by massive cheers on Philippe Chatrier Court, means Federer is still on course to complete his set of grand slams with top seed Rafael Nadal tumbling out of the tournament to Robin Soderling yesterday.