Roger Federer French Open Exit to Work in His Favour for Wimbledon

Roger Federer crashed out of the French Open at the fourth-round stage to the dangerous but not particularly well-known Ernests Gulbis. I fully expected Federer to win before the match, but as it unfolded I actually felt from the first set that Federer would lose. Gulbis was matching him in the rallies, and if he serves well then he`s a very dangerous opponent, plus he`d beaten Federer before. However, Federer was right to mention in his interview that it was his match to lose, and had he gone two sets up he surely would have won.

I don`t think it`s a bad thing for Federer that he lost this match. He wasn`t going to win the FO, he had to go through Berdych, a tough opponent for him, Djokovic and Nadal to do it. Better off for him to prepare for the grass because he`s going have a real shot at Wimbledon, where the physical demands are less exacting and he can use his slice more.

Personally, I don`t have a problem with Gulis taking a break at that point. The fact is that it`s in the rules, and he`s entitled to do it. It may be unsporting, gamesmanship or whatever, but I don`t see any way of stopping it. Federer has played and won enough matches to deal with it, if anything he would have been advised to leave the court himself for a while.

There was significant controversy in the fourth set when Gulbis took a medical timeout when Federer was serving for the set at 5-2 up. Gublis certainly hadn’t seemed particularly injured, and if this wasn’t outright gamesmanship then it was certainly a timely break. By walking off, the implication is that Gulbis simply had to seek medical treatment immediately. So this naturally means that had he been serving at 5-2 up for the match, having just secured a double break, he would have had to go off and seek treatment.

I don`t believe for one second this would have happened - although this impossible to prove one way or another - therefore there has to be an element of gamesmanship to it. When Nadal took an injury timeout in the AO final that`s what I call an injury that needs immediate treatment. If Gulbis had been leading 5-2, he would have just served it out and walked off.

Anyway, it wasn`t the reason Federer lost, he won that set, played a mediocre fifth set, and threw the second set away, and on balance he deserved to lose. The fact is that it wasn`t the reason Federer lost and he`s experienced enough to deal with it, and he said so himself.

But in the long run this could be the best thing that could have happened to Federer. His best chance of a Grand Slam title this year is always unquestionably going to be at Wimbledon, as he excels on the grass and it’s evidently the surface which places the least strain on his ageing body. Don’t be surprised if the Swiss maestro picks up his eighth Wimbledon title and 18th Grand Slam at SW19 this year.

Go To bet365

#Ad

03/06/2014     © Frixo 2026