Roger Federer was pushed to within two points of a first-round exit at Wimbledon on Monday by No. 60 Alejandro Falla. The Colombian played the match of a lifetime until the No. 1 seed finally showed up late in the fourth set. Nick Bollettieri analyzes the match.
The Fire of Falla
For starters, Falla is a cagey left-hander who fights until the last point. Sound familiar? We all know about Roger Federer’s career record against another grinding lefty: Rafael Nadal leads 14-7. Like Nadal, Falla used his lefty serve to target Federer’s backhand. Federer was often outstretched on the return, which made it impossible for him create any offense. Falla also used his forehand crosscourt to push Federer back on the defense and force errors. Federer normally is able to dictate play with his forehand, but Falla did an incredible job of hugging the baseline with his backhand to force Federer into uncomfortable positions. The feisty Colombian played aggressively when he needed to, and kept the unforced errors down. But unlike Nadal, he couldn’t close out the match with confidence.
The Biggest Stage
Although Falla is ranked high enough to gain direct acceptance into Grand Slams, he’s not used to Centre Court. In fact, he has never been past the third round of a major. Facing break points in the third set at 4-4, and up two sets to love, Falla strayed from his successful game plan. He failed to attack and waited for Federer to hand him the match. Again in the fourth set, serving for the match at 5-4, Falla tightened up and donated two quick points to Federer with wild unforced errors. The rest is history. I don’t know if we can say Falla choked the match away. He simply felt overwhelmed by the opportunity he had earned.
Unfazed Federer
Like any great champion, Federer never showed signs of panic. Some players might have thought about finding the next flight out of Heathrow, but Federer battled until the end. His backhand was falling apart and his forehand seemed to disappear at crucial moments, but he took the slight opportunity Falla gave him and played an incredible fifth set to close out the match. Federer never hung his head, despite what most would consider a poor performance. He withstood a match of a lifetime by Falla and came out the victor. For that, he should be ecstatic.
Looking Ahead
If the sound of Big Ben wasn’t clear before, this match should definitely serve as a wakeup call for Federer going into the next round and later in the tournament. His second-round matchup with qualifier Ilija Bozoljac of Serbia should be a good test for him, but I look for him to come out dominating.“I live another day,” Federer said following the match. That’s not a good sign for the rest of the field.
Nick Bollettieri of the IMG/Bollettieri Tennis Academy has trained many collegiate and professional players, including 10 who reached the world No. 1 ranking.