Top 5 match points squandered by Roger Federer
In a career of remarkable achievements, Roger Federer has seen it all. From winning Wimbledon in his early twenties, to winning three Grand Slams a year thrice in a row and lately, becoming the oldest player to be the world number one. Federer has made some unbelievable comebacks, produced sublime tennis under pressure as well as let slip away some critical chances in his career.
Very recently, Federer had a great chance to close the Wimbledon quarter-final match against Kevin Anderson, where he was leading by two sets to love and a match point at 5-4 in the third set. But Federer failed to capitalize and convert the match point, which would have put him just one match away from the summit clash against Novak Djokovic.
In this article we look at the top 5 match points squandered by Roger Federer:
#5 2006 Rome Masters final vs Rafael Nadal
Nobody would have foreseen what was going to unfold in the 2006 Rome Masters final. The match was a five-hour frenzy. Federer won the first set 7-6, but Nadal staged a strong comeback to win the third set 7-6 and the third set 6-4. Federer won the fourth set 6-2 to take the match into the deciding set.
The fifth set was nothing short of a cliffhanger, Federer broke Nadal in the fourth game of the set to take a 3-1 lead, and subsequently consolidated by holding his serve to take a 4-1 lead in the fifth set. Federer was on the verge on a 5-2 lead, but a resilient Nadal broke Federer to put the match back on serve at 4-3.
Next came the decisive moment, when Federer had two match points, with Nadal serving at 5-6 (15-40). Federer’s forehand errors went into overdrive at this critical juncture. He made two forehand errors that brought the game back to deuce and the fifth set went into the tie-breaker. In the tie-breaker, Federer rose to a 5-3 lead, but a rampant Nadal on clay, nullified the lead and went on to win the tie breaker 7-5.
Match Result - Nadal won 6-7, 7-6, 6-4, 2-6, 7-6.
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