At around 2:30pm on the first Sunday afternoon of the Australian Open, Roger Federer strolled out onto Rod Laver Arena to do his bidding against Spaniard Tommy Robredo. Federer, more commonly known as the ‘Great One’ or the ‘Swiss Maestro’, was expected to walk all over poor Tommy, which seemed most probable considering he had done just that throughout seven of their last nine encounters.
As he casually entered centre court, acknowledging the crowd for what must seem like the millionth time, it looked as if Robredo would fall victim to the simple yet deadly Federer routine. Such a habitual performance has become the norm for the second seed, which typically involves a mix of forehand winners, aces, deft volleys and the odd fist pump for good measure. Had Tommy lost easily like so many before him, nobody would have blinked twice, which makes that fact that he didn’t all the more intriguing.
If the centre court crowd learned one thing from the unheralded Spaniard this afternoon, it was to keep on plugging away. And that is what Tommy’s performance was all about.
He faced a laser-like Federer serve in the opening set, against which he failed to win a single point. In turn, the pressure he had to contend with in order to hold his own service games was immense, bordering on unbearable. The mere fact that one break separated the two in the opening set was impressive enough, but perhaps even more notable was the manner in which the Spanish bulldog approached the second set.
Patiently waiting for a lapse in his opponent’s play, Robredo held to go ahead 4-3 after losing the opener. In the next game, his prayers were finally answered as Federer missed a relatively simple forehand to afford Robredo the chance to serve out the set.
Digging his teeth in the match, Tommy’s tennis began to taunt Federer, due in part to its immense spin and direction towards the Federer backhand. After Federer missed what appeared to be a mundane forehand, Robredo clinched the second set. Alas, the routine appeared broken. Or was it momentarily delayed?
The latter looked the more appropriate, especially after Federer raced to a 3-0 lead to open up the third set. Robredo held onto his serve to keep the scoreline close, but he simply couldn’t get inside the Federer serve.
After holding on to take the set 6-3, Federer entered the fourth on a mission. Without delay, he went up 4-1, treating the centre court crowd to some scintillating tennis. He took the final set 6-2, and now awaits the winner of tonight’s marquee match between Andy Roddick and Stanislas Wawrinka.
Just like the long list of Federer’s victims before him, Robredo remained realistic about bridging the gap between himself and the Mighty Fed.
“…To get closer you have to win two sets. After the way he started the match, he started playing great and making unbelievable shots all the time. I think for me being there and winning the second set is great. Then in the third, I had chances to break him in the beginning. He broke me, and then i had chances to win these games again.”
Federer, on the other hand, refused to single out himself and Nadal as the only title threats.
“Well, I think Andy and Novak are playing extremely well, and that’s why I’m not really looking very far ahead here. Rafa, myself; Robin is playing well; Roddick seems like he’s in form; Stan, same thing; Berdych hasn’t dropped a whole lot of sets or games.
“I think really the top seeds here again are showing that they’re above the rest a bit at the moment still. Interesting second week, I think. Yeah, I don’t think I’ll be looking too far ahead here.”
