It looked a lot like a teacher-student relationship as Roger Federer gave a lesson to his younger Swiss compatriot, Stanislas Wawrinka, in a 6-3, 6-2, 7-5 fourth-round win Sunday in Paris. Sometimes the two competitors’ reactions almost seemed rehearsed—with Federer leading in terms of aggression and Wawrinka not quite able to keep up.
The first two sets were over in 58 minutes as Federer did everything well. Having previously played on nine occasions and practiced together innumerable times, it seemed there was a kind of choreography both players were familiar with, including Federer neutralizing Wawrinka’s awesome one-handed backhand. Federer broke serve in the fourth game of the first set and the third and fifth games of the second to signal that the match would fit the pattern of his eight previous wins (against one loss).
Sitting by the court, it was interesting to hear how involved Federer’s mother, Lynette, gets in his matches. There were regular calls of encouragement to her son—“let’s go Rog,” “c’mon Rog” and once, “allez Rog.” In the second to last game of the match, when a Federer passing shot dipped low over the net but still seemed to be playable by Wawrinka—who didn’t make a play on the ball—mother asked, “why didn’t he take it?”
The whole clan was there, with five burgundy-colored ‘RF’ caps on the two coaches, the agent, the trainer and a woman seated next to Lynette, who wore a visor. Wife Mirka was hatless. The odd man out was father Robert, who sported the traditional, plain red ‘RF’ cap. Maybe he didn’t get the memo, but a Swiss journalist suggested, “maybe red is his lucky cap.”
The third set was the only time when the object of all their attention, the prodigal Roger, had a drop in his impressive level. He lost serve in the second game with a double-fault and a couple unforced errors to give Wawrinka a chance to save face, which he took to soon lead 3-1 and 4-1. But Federer reeled him in at 2-4 by upping his game, breaking serve to re-establish the logical inter-Swiss pecking order.
Federer broke again in the eleventh game, by which time the match had returned to the balance of power of the first two sets, and he proceeded to serve out the match, finishing with an ace. He was enthusiastically applauded by the crowd on a beautiful, sunny Paris afternoon. There is a feeling that the French fans on Chatrier are there to enjoy a performance by the stylish Federer. Ever-ready to recognize his grace and greatness, the many images of him whirling in the air to finish his forehand stroke no doubt left them pleased.
—Tom Tebbutt