Wimbledon 2012: Roger Federer Survives In Five Sets

Wimbledon’s third round continues Saturday from the All England Club in London. Roger Federer’s late comeback Friday earned him a spot in the fourth round and two notable Americans are looking to do the same.

On the women’s side, Serena Williams takes Centre Court for her third-round match with Jie Zheng from China. Williams won’t be the only American woman competing Saturday as Varvara Lepchenko faces Petra Kvitova.

At his best, Roger Federer was the perfect tennis player. His serve has never been Pete Sampras’ by any means, but his offense was untouchable, his footwork and speed were world class, and his slice backhand consistently killed an opponent’s rallies by dying within three feet of the baseline every… single… time.

Now, about a month from his 31st birthday, he still has the Roger™ forehand, he still moves beautifully, and his serve is actually better. But that backhand slice is sitting up more, and it’s landing short much more frequently. It’s the reason he doesn’t win as many return points, and it’s the reason he has fallen behind, two sets to none, in three of his last five slam matches: to Juan Martin Del Potro in the French Open quarterfinals (he rallied to win), to Novak Djokovic in the French semis, and to Julien Benneteau in the third round at Wimbledon on Friday. When he is controlling the point, he is as good as ever. But he cannot slow down an opponent’s offense as much, and he cannot approach the net off of a backhand chip-and-charge… at least, not if he actually wants to win the point. It is really the only part of his game that has faded, but it is the reason he has gone nine slams in a row without a title.

Roger Federer nearly became the second victim of a massive upset in the men’s draw at Wimbledon, but managed to pull off a spectacular comeback from two sets down against Julian Benneteau, prevailing 4-6, 6-7, 6-2, 7-6, 6-1 in his third round match.

Benneteau capitalized on his lone chance to break in the first set while holding his own serve throughout to put Federer in a surprising hole. He continued his impressive play in the second set, though he didn’t make it easy on himself. Federer broke Benneteau in the Frenchman’s first service game, but Benneteau broke him right back. They held serve all the way to a tiebreak, which Benneteau won comfortably.

The 2012 Championships at Wimbledon are beginning to solidify the Round of 16. Two of the players who earned a berth into that fourth round on Friday were men’s No. 1 seed Novak Djokovic and women’s No. 1 seed Maria Sharapova.

Sharapova had little difficulty dispatching of her third round opponent on Friday, as she defeated unseeded Su-Wei Hsieh in straight sets, 6-1, 6-4. Hsieh showed fight in the second set, but Sharapova was able to clamp down and put her away to advance.

In the early going of the 2012 Championships at Wimbledon, it has been a good tournament for American players and a great tournament for upsets. Although not nearly to the level of Thursday’s second round upset of Rafael Nadal at the hands of Lukas Rosol, Friday has already featured another seeded player being dispatched by an unseeded opponent.

American men’s player Sam Querrey played a second round match against No. 21 seed Milos Raonic of Canada and was able to advance by winning in four sets. The first three sets were grueling tiebreak affairs, but Raonic wilted in the fourth set, allowing Querrey to advance to the third round on scores of 6-7 (3-7), 7-6 (9-7), 7-6 (10-8), 6-4.

The third round at Wimbledon begins Friday morning with Day 5 at the All-England Club. The second round ended with a monumental upset, as the little-known Czech Lukas Rosol bounced No. 2 Rafael Nadal under the lights in a rousing five-set upset. It will likely be the highlight of the first week, with the crowd Friday on Henman Hill still buzzing after the unbelievable end to Day 4.

No. 1 Novak Djokovic will look to avoid a similar fate on Friday when he faces Radek Stepanek. No. 3 Roger Federer will wrap up the day on Centre Court with his third-round match against Frenchman Julien Benneteau. On the ladies’ side, Maria Sharapova will be in action on Court 1 against Su-Wei Hsieh while No. 3 Aga Radwanska will face home-favorite Heather Watson on Centre Court.

So now that Lukas Rosol has set the men’s draw aflame with his second-round upset of Rafael Nadal, what does the rest of Wimbledon’s first week have in store for us? And which other heavy favorites should remain on guard? Here are five matches to track on Friday.

The last time Roger Federer and Julien Benneteau faced off, Benneteau won. Whether Federer is on the downside of his career or not, very, very few players can say that. Granted, the match took place three years ago, on hard court, and in Benneteau’s home country, no less; but that day, Benneteau’s serve confounded Federer (he won 79 percent of his first-serve points and a very high 57 percent of his second-serve points), and Federer’s return has only gotten weaker since then.