The roller coaster of being a Fed fan is something else. Sometimes, Federer can look horrendous. But today, he played his best match since 2017 IW, IMHO. Here’s why:
Federer’s return game was incredible today. Djoker got 74%of his first serves in. And yet, Federer returned a massive percentage of them. Federer likely had as many first-serve return winners as Djoker had aces. Fed’s return game was the best since 2017 IW
Federer used his backhand slice effectively to set up the backhand smash. Fed had a great mixture of backhand slice and backhand topspin smashes.
Fed’s forehand was quite accurate. This was vintage Fed here, except with less pace.
And lastly, Federer was in the single digits for unforced errors.
Fed’s overall game was incredible.
Now granted, Fed’s form at his old age can change on a dime. I expect nothing from Fed in the next match. I said the same thing at the USO going into the match with Dimitrov. But given his age, his performance today was a masterpiece. And I will take that. This tourney has been a success for Fed, regardless of what happens at the next match. That’s 16 semis in 17 appearance at this event.
Congrats to Fed for a big upset win. He played great.