Federer Loses Two Set Lead in Loss to Tsonga
For the first time in his career, Roger Federer lost a two sets to love lead in a Grand Slam match and went down to the talented Frenchman, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 3-6, 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 in the Wimbledon quarters. Prior to the loss, Federer had been 178-0 when he had a
two sets to love lead in a Grand Slam. Tsonga did play very well in coming back to win the match, especially off his serve and forehand, holding his nerve to serve out the match in the end of the fifth set. Tsonga also beat Federer almost two years ago at a Masters event in Canada in which Tsonga i believe came back to win after being down 1-5 in games in the decisive third set to win in a tie-breaker.
The other interesting statistic coming out of this loss is that despite his incredible career, Federer’s five set match record is only 16-13. When analyzing five set matches, I’m often reminded of something that Wimbledon champion, Boris Becker, once said. The fifth set is all about the mind. One could debate why Federer loses the matches he loses these days, but clearly it has a lot to do with the mind more than the body or technique. Federer will most likely be back to Wimbledon next year and perhaps achieve glory at another Slam in the future. However, each loss such as this one makes that possibility slightly less likely because although Federer may still “believe”, these losses give his opponents “belief” and that counts for points in the big moments too.
The other interesting statistic coming out of this loss is that despite his incredible career, Federer’s five set match record is only 16-13. When analyzing five set matches, I’m often reminded of something that Wimbledon champion, Boris Becker, once said. The fifth set is all about the mind. One could debate why Federer loses the matches he loses these days, but clearly it has a lot to do with the mind more than the body or technique. Federer will most likely be back to Wimbledon next year and perhaps achieve glory at another Slam in the future. However, each loss such as this one makes that possibility slightly less likely because although Federer may still “believe”, these losses give his opponents “belief” and that counts for points in the big moments too.
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