French Open Flashback: Roger Federer's journey to the title in 2009
Just like life, sport in general has its unique ways to humble you. No one is an exception in this regard; you can be greatest of all time, but there will always be a few things that keep eluding you, no matter how many times you try to attain them.
However, what defines true champions is their ability to keep fighting and to never give up, irrespective of all the hardships and past failures.
For Roger Federer, one of the most painful journeys was his road to his first and only Roland Garros title so far.
In the period 2003-2007 the Swiss maestro was at his dominating best, winning titles for fun, mesmerizing everyone with his serene tennis and redefining the boundaries of perfection. However, in spite of his tremendous dominance everywhere else, the red dirt of Paris was never a happy hunting ground for him. The coveted French Open title kept eluding the Swiss maestro year after year.
A phenomenon called Rafael Nadal had emerged on the tennis horizon, making it a habit to deny the Swiss. The Spaniard won Roland Garros in his very first attempt, defeating the Federer in the 2005 semi-finals en route his maiden Grand Slam triumph.
That was Federer’s first agonizing defeat on Parisian clay at the hands of Nadal, and the next three years (2006, 2007 and 2008) witnessed the Swiss maestro bowing out to the Spaniard in three successive finals at the French Open. The harder Federer tried, the steeper he fell; he suffered a humiliating defeat in the final of the 2008 edition, being served a bagel by Nadal in the third set.
But in the 2009 European clay season, Federer headed into Roland Garros following a morale-boosting victory over Nadal in the final at Madrid. Although everyone expected another failure for him in Paris, Federer appeared as desperate as ever to lay his hands on that elusive French Open crown.
Surprisingly, the then 4-time champion suffered a shock defeat against Robin Soderling in the round of 16. The sight of the defending champion being knocked out early in the tournament would have definitely given Federer a sense of relief.
Federer cruised through rather comfortably in his opening three matches and met Germany’s Tommy Haas in the Round of 16. In what turned out to be one of the most thrilling matches of the tournament, Federer, after being down two sets to love, sensationally won the next three sets to survive his biggest scare of the tournament.
His 6-7, 5-7, 6-4, 6-0, 6-2 victory over the German was perhaps the turning point of Federer’s French Open. He produced some scintillating tennis with his back against the wall, and that too against a player who was in red-hot form.
After overcoming the resilient Haas, the Swiss maestro produced a clinical and measured performance against the home-hope Gael Monfils in the next match to storm his way into the semi-finals.
If Federer’s clash against Haas was scintillating, his semi-final tussle against Argentina’s Juan Martin Del Potro was spectacular. The then young sensation Del Potro put on an exhibition of thunderous forehands throughout the match and had a 2-1 lead after the first three sets.
But nothing was going to be enough on that day as Federer showed tremendous character to come back and beat the ‘Tower of Tandil’, ultimately reaching his 4th final at Roland Garros.
On each of the three previous occasions when he was in the final, Federer wasn’t the favourite to lift the title. But this time around, things were very different as Soderling, the man who had sensationally beaten Nadal, was the Federer’s opponent in the final.
Having lost three successive finals on the red clay of Paris, the pressure was clearly on Federer. There was more at stake than ever for the Swiss, and any mis-step would have probably haunted him for the rest of his career.
But Federer reserved his best for the last as he cruised to his maiden French Open title with a straight sets 6-1, 7-6, 6-4 victory over the Swedish star.
Finally, with the win in Paris, the Grand Slam trophy cabinet was complete for Federer; the Career Grand Slam was in the bag. This was his 14th Grand Slam title, which put him on par with Pete Sampras as the joint holder of the record for most men’s singles Majors won.
Federer's 2009 triumph remains his only Roland Garros title so far. He may have won 20 majors and 101 singles titles in his illustrious career, but his magnificent victory in Paris would rank as one of the sweetest. After all, had he never won in Paris, it would have been a huge dent to his legacy and a dream that always remained unfulfilled.