PARIS, (Reuters) – No Nadal, no excuses! Those are the words that could have haunted Roger Federer for the rest of his life if he had let the French Open crown slip from his grasp on Sunday.
Luckily for him, Swede Robin Soderling, and a miracle forehand winner in a fourth-round thriller against Tommy Haas helped the Swiss on his way to becoming only the sixth man to complete a career grand slam of all four major titles.
When Soderling ended Rafael Nadal’s four-year Paris reign eight days ago in the fourth round, Federer had been expected to grab his golden opportunity with both hands.
Except less than 24 hours later, it seemed Roland Garros would be shaken by an aftershock of similar magnitude as Federer was on the verge of suffering his earliest grand slam loss since 2004 when he came within five points of defeat.
At two sets and 3-4 down facing a break point, Federer conjured up a screaming forehand winner to bring the scores back to deuce. That earned Federer his get-out-of-jail-free card.
CLOSED DEAL
The shot was akin to the miracle birdie Federer’s friend Tiger Woods produced at the 16th during the final round of the 2005 U.S. Masters.
The American holed out from 40 yards off the green with a delicate chip that fed back 25 feet down the slope.
The ball appeared to teeter tantalisingly over the edge of the hole before, a second later, it dropped into the cup.
That shot put Woods two strokes clear and he eventually closed the deal at the first extra hole.
