Game. Set. Match. Match. Match. Match. Federer.
On May 29, 2004, Roger Federer lost to Gustavo Kuerten, the Brazilian affectionately known as Guga, in the third round of the French Open. The defeat was “not a true upset”, as the New York Times’ Christopher Clarey put it the following day. Even though he was the world No. 1, Federer had won all of two Grand Slam titles, while Guga was a three-time French Open champion. Back then, Federer was merely the first among equals, with fellow Grand Slam title winners Andy Roddick and Juan Carlos Ferrero nipping at his heels for the mantle of Best Player in the World.
Since then, of course, Federer has won 14 more majors and staked his claim to the GOAT label (Greatest Of All Time). But a lesser-known streak largely overlooked by the general public is even more impressive. Since his loss to Guga, Federer is 133-0 in the first found rounds of Grand Slam tournaments. That works out to 33 straight Grand Slam quarterfinals, capped off by his victory over Xavier Malisse in the Wimbledon fourth round on Monday.
Federer’s streak is the longest in tennis history — the only player close is Jimmy Connors, who reached 27 straight Grand Slam quarterfinals in the 1970s. But Connors played in an era of less depth in men’s tennis — today, the 100th ranked player can be as dangerous as the No. 10 player, as we saw when No. 100-ranked Lukas Rosol beat Rafael Nadal last week. And Federer has been largely unchallenged, not facing a single match point against him in the 133 wins.
How did we get here? Let’s take a walk through the streak (we’ll refer to his wins in the first four rounds to reach the quarters as First Four matches):
WIMBLEDON 2004 — WIN
0 sets dropped in the first four rounds, not challenged
US OPEN 2004 — WIN
1, not challenged
AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2005 — SEMIS (SAFIN)
0, not challenged
FRENCH OPEN 2005 — SEMIS (NADAL)
0, not challenged
WIMBLEDON 2005 — WIN
1, pushed in the fourth set by Nicholas Kiefer in the fourth round but wins 7-5.
US OPEN 2005 — WIN
0, not challenged
AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2006 — WIN
2, Tommy Haas rallies from a two-set-to-none deficit, but Federer cruises in fifth to win, 6-4, 6-0, 3-6, 4-6, 6-2. Clarey writes of the fourth set: “Federer’s racket frame at awkward angles as he missed forehands and volleys and even, gasp, an overhead or two. There was also his baritone bark at himself: “Come on!” Those words mean that Federer is feeling threatened.” Restoring order, Federer wins the last four games of match.
FRENCH OPEN 2006 — FINAL (NADAL)
1, Holds off Nicolas Massu 7-5 in the fourth set in his third-round match
WIMBLEDON 2006 — WIN
0, not challenged
US OPEN 2006 — WIN
0, not challenged
AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2007 — WIN
0, not challenged
FRENCH OPEN 2007 – FINALS (NADAL)
0, not challenged
WIMBLEDON 2007 – WIN
0, not challenged. For those scoring at home, that’s five straight Grand Slam tournaments where Federer didn’t drop a set before the quarterfinals — 20 matches in all. That, by itself, is incredible.
US OPEN 2007 — WIN
2, taken to four sets twice. The first man to take to set off Federer in 24 First Four matches? An unheralded American wild card entrant by the name of John Isner, who takes a first-set tiebreak from Federer in the third round.
AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2008 — SEMIS (DJOKOVIC)
2, outlasts Serbian Janko Tipsarevic in the first real threat to the streak, 10-8 in the fifth set in the third round. “I don’t often get to play five-setters unless they’re against Nadal at Wimbledon,” Federer said after the 6-7(5), 7-6(1), 5-7, 6-1, 10-8 epic. “It was good to be part of something like this. It’s a pity you can’t have draws in tennis.” To this day, it is the second-longest Grand Slam final set in Federer’s career behind only his 16-14 epic fifth set win over Andy Roddick in the 2009 Wimbledon final.
FRENCH OPEN 2008 — FINAL (NADAL)
1, not challenged
WIMBLEDON 2008 — FINAL (NADAL)
0, not challenged
US OPEN 2008 — WIN
2, Federer gets tested by Russia’s Igor Andreev in the fourth round, a five-set match I witnessed live. Fed split two close tiebreaks with Indreev that both could’ve gone either way, won the third easily, then dropped a break down in the fourth and basically conceded the set. Then he just as quickly got the early break in the fifth and held on. I’ll never forget his reaction after he won match point – he leapt, half-pivoting in the air, pumped his fist and let out a guttural yell. It was like seeing Tiger hobble around on one leg in golf’s U.S. Open earlier that year: holy shit, this guy’s human. Final score: 6-7(5), 7-6(5), 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2009 — FINAL (NADAL)
2, Tomas Berdych becomes the first guy to win the first two sets off Federer in 60 First Four matches. But at 3-3 in the third set, he botches an open-court volley and shanks an overhead to give Federer the break. From there, it’s boom boom boom, 4-6, 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.
FRENCH OPEN 2009 — WIN
4, for the first time, Federer loses more than two sets in the first four rounds of a Grand Slam during the streak. Jose Acacuso takes one in the second round, Juan Monaco one in round 3, and old nemesis Haas the first two of the fourth round. But Federer hits a wicked inside-out forehand to save a break point at 3-4, 30-40, wins that game, wins the next two games to take the set, and just DEMOLISHES poor Tommy in the final two sets of a 6-7(4), 5-7, 6-4, 6-0, 6-2 win. The win came a day after Nadal suffered the only French Open loss of his career and propelled Federer to his only French Open title.
WIMBLEDON 2009 — WIN
1, not challenged, though Robin Soderling pushes Federer to two tiebreaks in a straight-sets loss in the fourth round.
US OPEN 2009 — FINAL (DEL POTRO)
1, not challenged
AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2010 — WIN
1, not challenged. Old foe Andreev takes the first set of the tournament from Federer, but he wins the next 12.
FRENCH OPEN 2010 — QUARTERS (SODERLING)
0, not challenged
WIMBLEDON 2010 — QUARTERS (BERDYCH)
3, unknown Alejandro Falla wins the first two sets, and serves for the match in the fourth, but can’t even get a match point, much less win it. London paper The Guardian said afterwards:
Federer had never won from two sets down at Wimbledon before but he quickly found himself in such a position with Falla having opportunities to win in the third and and serving for victory in the fourth. Eventually however Federer powered to victory in the the fifth, overcoming an opponent playing way in excess of any known form. The reigning champion eventually prevailed 5-7, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6, 6-0.
US OPEN 2010 — SEMIS (DJOKOVIC)
0, not challenged
AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2011 — SEMIS (DJOKOVIC)
3, Frenchman Gilles Simon rallies from two sets down to force a fifth set in the the second round, but Federer fends him off 6-2, 6-3, 4-6, 4-6, 6-3.
FRENCH OPEN 2011 — FINAL (NADAL)
0, not challenged
WIMBLEDON 2011 — QUARTERS (TSONGA)
1, not challenged
US OPEN 2011 — SEMIS (DJOKOVIC)
1, not challenged
AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2012 — SEMIS (NADAL)
0, not challenged
FRENCH OPEN 2012 — SEMIS (DJOKOVIC)
1, beats Mahut 7-5 in the fourth in Round 3
WIMBLEDON 2012 — ????
3, Frenchman Julien Benneteau takes the first two sets in Round 3, and like Falla in 2010, he has his best chance for the upset in the fourth set. Five times, Benneteau is two points from the match. Five times, he loses the next point — including at 5-5 and 6-6 in the fourth-set tiebreak. Like Falla and Tipsarevic before him, though, Benneteau crumbles in the big moments while Federer remains indomitable. Federer dispatches the demoralized Benneteau easily in the fifth to take the match 4-6 6-7(3), 6-2, 7-6(6), 6-1.
For those of you scoring at home, that’s 33 sets lost in 132 matches for a preposterous set record of 396-33. That is on average one set lost per First Four rounds of a Grand Slam tournament since Wimbledon 2004. That, my friends, is dominance.
For the record, Federer is 29-3 in Grand Slam quarterfinals during the streak, 21-8 in semifinals, and 14-7 in finals. While he has not won a major since the 2010 Australian and not reached a major final since the 2011 French, he has continued to reserve a spot in the final eight every time. 128 players start every Grand Slam tournament, 16 vying against each other for each of the eight quarterfinal spots. For eight years and counting, the 15 players in Federer’s bracket might as well have gone on vacation.
