Can Roger Federer be satisfied with his performance at the Australian Open?
Roger Federer failed in the semi-finals of the Australian Open on Novak Djokovic and his body. However, the 38-year-old Swiss was able to top last year's result and move into the round of four - so can Roger Federer be satisfied with his Australian Open?
by Michael Rothschädl
last edit: Jan 30, 2020, 06:33 pm
"Honestly, my expectations are relatively low," said Roger Federer in a press conference leading up to the Australian Open. The Swiss had previously skipped the ATP Cup in order to prepare for the first Grand Slam of the year - but there was a big question mark about the shape of the 38-year-old.
The Australian Open for the 20-time Grand Slam Champion is now history. The final round was against top favorite Novak Djokovic. However, the Swiss was still able to top his previous year's result significantly - in 2019 he had already failed in the second round to Stefanos Tsitsipas. Roger Federer had once again reached the semi-finals of a Grand Slam, but the Swiss could not really convince.
Roger Federer's strong start to the tournament
The Swiss only needed a few games to reach operating temperature at the Australian Open. Federer rushed through the first two rounds, not giving Steve Johnson and Filip Krajinkovic a chance. What followed was a eagerly awaited reunion: John Millman beat Roger Federer in the round of 16 at the 2018 US Open; in Australia, the Australian should already meet the Swiss in round three.
In the all-important match tie-break of the fifth set, the score of 8: 4 already looked like another surprise from the Australian John Millman. But Roger Federer showed a fighting spirit, was able to score six points in a row and was suddenly in the second round - although he was already thinking about how he could explain the defeat to the journalists. A sensational race to catch up was remembered, but the Swiss player was not necessarily able to convince in this game.
A second insane comeback
This was followed by the round of 16 duel against a top-performing Marton Fucsovics, who was able to beat Denis Shapovalov among others. Here Roger Federer was clearly improved in form, put a cold start well away and gave the Hungarian in sets two, three and four no chance. Federer was also spared a duel with a seeded player in the quarterfinals, instead Tenny Sandgren faced him.
If you could have believed that Roger Federer had used up all of Fortuna's support with his comeback against John Millman, the maestro taught otherwise in this quarter-finals. The 38-year-old was able to fend off seven (!) Match balls in set four and, despite obvious physical complaints, went off after five sets. And again it was the combative performance that brought the Swiss victory.
Roger Federer was allowed to wait until the semi-final duel with Novak Djokovic before he was confronted by a top 40 player. Here was also the final stop for a Federer, who could see the strain of the last games, who was clearly struggling with his body. Nevertheless, the 38-year-old found some chances, especially in the first set, and should have (had to) decide for himself.
Mixed feelings
So Roger Federer has reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open. An achievement that would have been celebrated frenetically by most other players. But Federer is not just any player. With a view to the Swiss draw, it is difficult to glorify this semi-final entry too much. Roger Federer has fulfilled his duty, above all he has shown a fighting performance that distinguishes him from the average athlete.
In terms of play, there is still a lot of room for improvement for the Swiss - it is difficult to say how much his physical condition affected him from the third round - but in the matches against Sandgren and Djokovic it cannot be denied that there was an impairment.
In the end, there are five successes against players who are a few places behind Federer in the world rankings and a defeat against a player who is considered the best at the Australian Open. Federer himself finds it difficult to assess his performance after he leaves: “At the end of the day I'm relatively happy. I think I basically played pretty solidly, but I know I can play better. At the same time, I also know that I can play much worse. Without tournaments in advance, I think it's a very, very good result. "
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