Five best 5-set victories of Roger Federer in Finals
Roger Federer has taken part in a lot of memorable 5-set matches in his illustrious career. Most recently, it was in a marathon Wimbledon quarterfinal loss against Kevin Anderson. He has managed to win as well, in many such instances.
How a player goes about things in a 5-set encounter can easily give out hints on his stamina and mental toughness. When such matches happen in the final of important tournaments, it's even more demanding. Federer will know all about it, having won and lost quite a few titles playing a finale that went the whole distance.
But, in today's slideshow we are going to concentrate only on the positives, that is, his victories. So, here are the Top 5 countdown of 5 set victories of Roger Federer in finals:
#5 Miami Masters 2005 vs Rafael Nadal
This match was back when the finals of Masters tournaments were 5-set affairs. This was also the first time that Federer met Nadal in a final. He had already lost to him in straight sets a year before, in the Round of 32 of the Miami Open. It looked like a repeat of that performance was on the cards when he was 2 sets down, losing the 2nd in a tiebreaker after having a couple of set points at 5-3.
The 18-year-old Spaniard raced to a 4-1 lead in the 3rd set before being pulled into another tiebreak. Trailing in the tiebreak 3-5 with his opponent on serve, the Swiss maestro won 4 points in a row to stay in the match. That seemed to be the momentum shift he so desperately needed as he won the 4th set 6-3.
Federer broke Nadal in Game 3 of the 5th set from a game point down and there was nothing that the latter could do thereon. Roger Federer destroyed Rafa 6-1 in the final set, to complete a great comeback.