In 2009, Roger Federer finally broke through and won the singles title at Roland Garros. The win completed a career Grand Slam for the Swiss maestro and also tied him with Pete Sampras for most major men’s singles titles with 14 (a record he would go on to break). Just how did Federer finally break through at Roland Garros? Rene Stauffer, the author of the Federer biography ROGER FEDERER: QUEST FOR PERFECTION ($19.95, New Chapter Press, www.RogerFedererBook.com) tells you how in this exclusive book excerpt below.
Roger Federer’s form was a cause for concern when he arrived in Madrid for his last tournament before Roland Garros. Madrid was the site of a new and important clay-court tournament, right in the heart of the homeland of Rafael Nadal. It replaced the downgraded German Open in Hamburg, where Federer celebrated his biggest victories on clay. All the more amazing was that Federer said before the start of the tournament, “My goal here is to win the title. I realize that I am about to turn it around.”
Something miraculous happened in the futuristic structure with the beautiful name “Caja Magica” (The Magic Box) where the event was played. After victories over Robin Soderling, James Blake, Andy Roddick and Juan Martin del Potro, he dominated Nadal in the final. Nadal had to fend off three match points in an epic 4 hour and 2 minute 3-6, 7-6(3), 7-6(9) win in the semifinals against Novak Djokovic, bewildering the home Spanish audience, who had not seen their hero so vulnerable on clay courts. Federer’s 6-4, 6-4 win over Nadal ended a five-match losing streak to the Spaniard and gave him a seventh victory in their 20th match. It was his first tournament win in seven months.
What no one knew at this time, but in Madrid Federer found the key to returning to his old dominant form. How he accomplished that was best described by him during an interview with the BBC a few months later: “I think it had a lot to do with my back problems. I’m not going to look for excuses. Because of my back problems, I had the feeling I had to play aggressive tennis, so I wouldn’t have to defend so much. On offense, you control things. On defense, you don’t. I was scared that my back was going to hurt too much or not be well for the next match, just being a little cautious. I was scared really to a point, almost, subconsciously, and that’s why I think I played sometimes too offensive—and then, I didn’t want to say a panic mode set in—but against the top players it was hard to play offensive all the time. I think that was one of the reasons I lost a little bit of confidence and made the wrong plays. Of course my opponent had to play well to get me there as well because against lower-ranked players I was still in control.”
Federer resolved the riddle of his poor form before and after the Italian Championships in May in training camps in Sardinia (with Austrian Stefan Koubek) and in Switzerland. “I trained extremely hard and told myself that
I had to be able to fully execute my serve. I worked hard on my defense, until I received the assurance that my back is ready. Ever since, I feel 100 percent again.”
The successful strength training and the coup of Madrid abruptly changed his outlook towards Roland Garros and Wimbledon. “This is a big moment, and it came at the right time,” he said. “A few weeks ago I wasn’t quite sure if I can win the French Open. That has changed now.”
What happened then at Roland Garros exceeded all expectations. Nadal, the four-time reigning champion in Paris, was sensationally upset in the fourth round by Robin Soderling of Sweden, the Spaniard’s first ever loss at Roland Garros. This cleared the way for Federer, as Nadal was the man who ended Federer’s Roland Garros dream the last four years, including in the last three finals. However, Federer was struggling. After two troublesome wins against Jose Acasuso and Paul-Henri Mathieu en route to the fourth round, he met his long-time rival Tommy Haas of Germany. Federer was not sharp and surprisingly fell behind two-sets-to-love 7-6 (4), 7-5. Serving at 3-4 in the third set, he faced a break point, which if he had lost, would have allowed Haas to serve for a straight-set win. Federer, however, created one of his magic moments. He hit a forehand winner that landed on the line. He went on to hold serve and reeled off nine straight games and went on to win in five sets 6-7 (4), 5-7, 6-4, 6-0, 6-2. After beating Gael Monfils of France in the quarterfinals, Federer survived a serious threat from del Potro in the semifinals, trailing by a service break in the fifth set before prevailing, 3-6, 7-6 (2), 2-6, 6-1, 6-4. His win over the young Argentine was aided by the weather. “All of a sudden it got colder, clouds were in the sky and I realized: The ball isn’t bouncing so fast anymore, that helps me,” he said later. “I don’t know if I just imagined things. It somehow was a little sign.”
In the final, Federer revealed no weaknesses in his game. After a 6-1, 7-6 (1), 6-4 victory over Soderling, the man who defeated Nadal, Federer sank to the clay as he won at Roland Garros for the first time. Even before he won the last point he had tears in his eyes. He finally won the title that many thought he never would, and only a few weeks after a drastic low and a phase where most people already wrote him off.
Federer became the sixth man after Fred Perry, Don Budge, Roy Emerson, Rod Laver and Andre Agassi to accomplish the career Grand Slam, to complete the quartet of major titles within the scope of a career. The last player to achieve the career Grand Slam came 10 years earlier by Agassi, from whom he received the famous Coupe des Mousquetaires trophy. “I always knew that I had the Paris victory in me,” Federer said. “Therefore I left an empty space for the Coupe des Mousquetaires in my trophy cabinet.” It was his 14th major tournament trophy, tying him with the record holder Pete Sampras.