By Randy Walker
@TennisPublisher
Roger Federer has a long and storied history at many of the world’s biggest and most prestigious events, including the Miami Open on the island paradise of Key Biscayne. The following are the top five most memorable matches for the Swiss maestro at the Miami Open, as taken from the pages of my book “The Days of Roger Federer” for sale and download here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1937559378/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_xOD8wb1NQV86J. We’ve included a few “Honorable Mentions” as well.
March 29, 2002 – Roger Federer defeats a world No. 1 player for the first time when he defeats top-ranked Lleyton Hewitt 6-3, 6-4 in the semifinals of the NASDAQ-100 Open in Key Biscayne, Fla. The win moved Federer, seeded No. 12, into the final of the Masters Series event for the first time and ends Hewitt’s 15-match win streak. “It’s something special,” says Federer of his victory. “I’ve never beaten a No. 1 player before. I’ve beaten players who were No. 1, but not exactly the time. Plus, I’ve broken his winning streak and all this. So it’s quite a special moment for me, obviously. First Masters Series final, gives me a chance of winning it. So, I mean, it’s very nice.” Federer goes on to lose the final to Andre Agassi. (See honorable mention entries)
March 28, 2004 – A hard-hitting 17-year-old from Spain named Rafael Nadal, ranked No. 34 in the world, stages a shocking upset of world No. 1 Roger Federer, claiming a 6-3, 6-3 win in the third round of the Sony Ericsson Open. Federer, the reigning Wimbledon and Australian Open champion, had won 28 of 29 matches dating back to the previous November, but the Swiss struggles with illness from the previous few days and Nadal plays impeccable tennis, never facing a break point, executing 81 percent of his first serves and winning 13 of 14 points at the net. ”I’m very happy because I played one of the best matches in my life,” Nadal says. ”Obviously, he didn’t play his best. If he had played his best tennis, I would have had no chance. I probably never served like this in my life, and that was the key.” Says Federer of the debut match his future main rival, “I think it’s always difficult to play someone for the first time, first of all, but I think overall he played a very good match. He was the better player today. It was tough for me. I had time to get the rhythm, but he played very aggressive and I couldn’t quite play maybe the way I wanted to.” When asked if he was surprised by the result, Federer says, “No, no, I’m not surprised. I’ve heard a lot about him and saw some matches of him. I think this is not a big surprise for everybody.”
April 1, 2005 – Hitting an impressive 30 winners in front of partisan pro-Agassi crowd, Roger Federer defeats six-time champion Andre Agassi 6-4, 6-3 in the semifinals of the NASDAQ-100 Open in what ultimately becomes Agassi final appearance in the event. “I played great off the baseline, great focus,” says Federer. “I didn’t only play against him, but against the fans tonight. They were really backing him up. I remember it was very similar to the year when I played the finals here against him. Maybe not as extreme because this time he was losing and then he was winning, so it was a tough match tonight. I’m extremely happy with the level of play.” The win extends Federer’s win streak to 21 and improves his record on the season to 31-1.
April 2, 2006 – Roger Federer wins three straight tie-breaker sets and wins the NASDAQ-100 Open in Key Biscayne, Fla., beating Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia 7-6 (5), 7-6 (4), 7-6 (6), winning the last point of the match off a net-cord winner off a backhand return-of-serve. “I guess I had to work extremely hard to get that lucky over the years,” says Federer of his fortunate shot on match point. “Obviously, it’s funny, when it happens on match point for a tournament victory. I think it happened to me once before in the finals in – I thought it was Vienna against Novak. I didn’t know what to do either. I guess it just happens. I really didn’t need it that net cord, that’s for sure.” The tournament title is the 37th of Federer’s career and the fourth in 2006. Only three total points separate the two players – Federer winning 124 total points to 121 for Ljubicic. Says Federer, “This is very nice to have such a close match and come through it and show once again I really belong in the number one position and deserve all of these trophies I win.” With the win, Federer also becomes the first player ever to win the “Coast-to-Coast Double” – the American hard court titles in Indian Wells and Key Biscayne – back to back in consecutive years.
April 3, 2005 – Two points from defeat in the third-set tie-break, Federer rallies from two-sets-to-love down to defeat Spain’s Rafael Nadal 2-6, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (5), 6-3, 6-1 in three hours and 43 minutes to win the NASDAQ-100 Open in Key Biscayne, Fla. Federer trails 4-2 in the third set and 5-3 in the third set tie-break before rallying to win his 22nd consecutive match and his 18th consecutive final. “It was uphill. I tried to force Rafael too much, but I finally got myself to relax,” Federer says. “I thought I’d be all right if I could get him into a fifth set.” Federer hits 74 unforced errors to Nadal’s 54, but he also hit 51 winners to Nadal’s 32. Says the 18-year-old Nadal, ranked No. 31, “He hits balls on lines. He is No. 1, no?” Writes Bud Collins in the Los Angeles Times, “The kid from Spain was on a fantastic joy ride. It was a thief’s dream. He had stolen the first two sets Sunday and was driving toward the men’s title here in the Nasdaq-100 Open. Then the Swiss guy who had been run over for two hours pulled himself together, caught the teenager and claimed the prize as the rightful owner after a 3-hour 43-minute marathon.
Honorable Mentions
March 31, 2002 – Thirty-one-year-old Andre Agassi wins his 700th career match, defeating 20-year-old Roger Federer 6-3, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 in the final of the NASDAQ-100 Open in Key Biscayne. The match is Federer’s first in a Masters Series event, but the loss prevents the No. 12-ranked Federer from entering the top 10 in the rankings as he only moves up to No. 11. “I’m disappointed I didn’t make it to Top 10 this week because I had a chance,” said Federer. “But I feel progress in my game again. This week from the baseline I was actually playing really well. I beat Lleyton from the baseline, so I think that says a lot already, and I was for a while dominating Andre a little bit today in the third and in the beginning of the fourth. This week has been great tennis. I really hope to take it over to the clay court season, because I know also there I have the potential to play well.”
March 28, 2003– In the conclusion of a match where he lead 5-3 in the third set, 21-year-old Roger Federer blows three match points and falls to Albert Costa in a rain-delayed quarterfinal match at the Sony Ericsson Open. Costa needs only 13 minutes upon the resumption of play with him leading 6-5 (deuce) in the final set, finishing off the No. 4-seeded Federer, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 7-6 (7). Federer held two match points serving for the match at 5-4 from the previous day and another one at 6-5 in the final-set tie-breaker.
March 30, 2011 – Starting his match with Olivier Rochus at 12:37 am – the latest match start of his career – Roger Federer mercifically needs only 51 minutes to advance into the quarterfinals of the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Fla., with a 6-3, 6-1 victory. The match is late to start due to a backlog of matches due to rain.
April 1, 2009 – A passing shot that clips the net and hops over the racquet of Andy Roddick on the second-to-last point of the match proves to be the decisive shot for Roger Federer in his 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 semifinal at the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Fla. Federer’s net-cord shot gives him a match point on Roddick’s serve, which he successfully wins to close out the match and increase his head-to-head record against Roddick to 17-2. Says Federer to reporters of his “lucky” shot, “I thought I hit a good pass. I mean, it was. The thing is, with this net, it’s super tight this week, whereas last week it would have been a different net cord. I remember having a lot a lot of unlucky bounces over the years here with the let cords because those things fly off that net cords like crazy. It could have landed in the back fence. I was happy it stayed in. I hung in there. You got to create yourself chances. If you do get lucky on a big point, it just happens, but you got to put yourself in that position, and that’s what I was able to do.”
April 3, 2009 – Roger Federer shocks the tennis world not with his brilliant play but with a rare display of his temper as he smashes his racquet against the court in disgust in the latter stages of his 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 semifinal loss to Novak Djokovic at the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Fla. Falling behind 2-0 in the final set, Federer nets an easy shot at the start of the next game, then raises his racquet over his head and smashes it the court. “I didn’t lose it, I was just frustrated,” says Federer of the racquet smashing episode. “Just because I smashed the racket, it doesn’t mean I lost it. It didn’t feel great, it was just a natural thing that I did.” Mike Dickson from the Daily Mail writes of Federer, “Wimbledon’s self-appointed King of Cool acted more like a raging John McEnroe in Miami when he smashed his racket in frustration at losing” and that “Long-term Federer observers could not remember such a tantrum since his junior.”
April 1, 2011 – In a raucous atmosphere, despite the one-sided nature of the match, Roger Federer is beaten handily by chief rival and world No. 1 Rafael Nadal 6-3, 6-2 in the semifinals of the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Fla. The win, the most decisive win for Nadal over Federer at the time, increases his record over his Swiss rival to 15-8. “I think I played a very, very good match, very solid and serious,” says Nadal. “In the first set especially I think I played very, very well. In the second set I think he played worse. He had more mistakes than usual. He tried to play shorter points, so I think second set he didn’t play well.” The sell-out crowd of 14,500 becomes very vocal in support of both players, chanting each player’s name, started by Federer fans trying to urge their player to get back into the one-sided match. “It’s definitely a very nice feeling to get the support from the crowd, especially against Rafa, obviously,” says Federer. “I think definitely had something to do with the score. I’m not sure I wanted it or not because it meant I was down in the score. It’s definitely nice hearing my name go through the stadium. I’ve had some great times here in Miami. Definitely nice feeling to have to play out there and hear that.”
“The Days of Roger Federer” – a book that documents matches, life events and facts on tennis legend Roger Federer with unique day-by-day summaries – is available for $19.95 where books are sold, including here on
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1937559378/ref=s9_simh_gw_p14_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=10D3VB2K77DG8P0DHHEV&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1688200382&pf_rd_i=507846 The book is also available in electronic formats, including on Kindle for $7.99 here: http://www.amazon.com/Days-Roger-Federer-Randy-Walker-ebook/dp/B00LFQ8BH2/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=&qid=
“The Days of Roger Federer” chronicles the trophy-laden career of Federer, one of the world’s most well-known, popular and respected athletes, regarded by many as the greatest tennis player of all time. The book is unique for its day-by-day format: every day of the calendar year is presented with a corresponding anniversary or a bit of fact or trivia, including hallmark victories, statistics, quirky happenings and quotations.
Founded in 1987, New Chapter Press (www.NewChapterMedia.com) is also the publisher of “The Greatest Tennis Matches of All-Time” by Steve Flink, “The Education of a Tennis Player” by Rod Laver with Bud Collins, “Macci Magic: Extracting Greatness From Yourself And Others” by Rick Macci with Jim Martz, “Court Confidential: Inside The World Of Tennis” by Neil Harman, “Roger Federer: Quest for Perfection” by Rene Stauffer, “Andy Murray, Wimbledon Champion: The Full Extraordinary Story” by Mark Hodgkinson, “The Bud Collins History of Tennis” by Bud Collins, “The Wimbledon Final That Never Was” by Sidney Wood, “Acing Depression: A Tennis Champion’s Toughest Match” by Cliff Richey and Hilaire Richey Kallendorf, “Titanic: The Tennis Story” by Lindsay Gibbs, “Jan Kodes: A Journey To Glory From Behind The Iron Curtain” by Jan Kodes with Peter Kolar, “Tennis Made Easy” by Kelly Gunterman, “On This Day In Tennis History” by Randy Walker (www.TennisHistoryApp.com), “A Player’s Guide To USTA League Tennis” by Tony Serksnis, “A Backhanded Gift” by Marshall Jon Fisher, “Boycott: Stolen Dreams of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games” by Tom Caraccioli and Jerry Caraccioli (www.Boycott1980.com), “Internet Dating 101: It’s Complicated, But It Doesn’t Have To Be” by Laura Schreffler, “How To Sell Your Screenplay” by Carl Sautter, “Bone Appetit: Gourmet Cooking For Your Dog” by Suzan Anson, “The Rules of Neighborhood Poker According to Hoyle” by Stewart Wolpin among others.
