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 The last Frenchman has been brushed from his path and now all of France is at his side, whispering in his ear, “Roland Garros est à vous, Roger, Roland Garros est à vous.”
And in his wildest dreams, Roger Federer could not have imagined that two of three from Juan Martín Del Potro, his semi-final opponent, Robin Söderling and Fernando González would stand between him and this leviathan of grand-slam tournament titles, the last on his list.
The calming manner of Federer's 7-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory over Gaël Monfils on Court Philippe Chatrier yesterday should not be underestimated. The ovation for it was stupendous. Within two minutes of its conclusion, he was in the studios of France 2 holding a charming discourse with five interviewers fawning over him and each other, all desperate to get a question in - a babble that made one yearn for Wimbledon and the straight-talking of the BBC's Garry Richardson.
If the next four days work out as the 27-year-old has long dreamt they would, he will enter the championships this month with one title, the title of all titles, required to overhaul Pete Sampras's 14, a number many believed would stand for all time.
The Swiss has been two matches away from the French Open before, losing to Rafael Nadal in the 2005 semi-finals, before defeating David Nalbandian, Nikolay Davydenko and Monfils on subsequent second Fridays only to hit the buffers of Nadal's muscular obstinacy on the last day.
None of those stars is around this time. There was probably more chatter in Argentina about Gastón Gaudio, the 2004 champion, being awarded a wild card into this year's event than serious discussion about Del Potro's chances of winning it.
The 20-year-old won only three games against Federer in the Australian Open quarter-finals in January, was resoundingly thumped at the Mutua Madrileña Masters in Madrid two weeks ago and is facing his first such grand-slam experience knowing that he might be lynched if he should upturn the apple cart tomorrow.
The madcap scooter riders of the capital have been shouting encouragement as Federer strolls the boulevards near his hotel; those recognising him in his official car when it draws up at a red light have leapt out of their cars to ask for an autograph. “They have more or less adopted me,” he said.
Even Monfils, as the pair embraced at the net, told Federer he hoped he would win. The next thing you know, four of his fellow players will be summoned to carry him on to court in a sedan chair.
He claims he is feeling the pressure, and his T-shirt was soaked through after a particularly brisk practice session. “We are all nervous at this stage of the competition, to be honest,” Federer said. “I was feeling pretty tired in the warm-up but once out on court I got my act together and I knew things would be all right. I doubt he [Monfils] put too much pressure on himself, this is the job we do.”
Once Monfils erred on a break point at 5-5 in the first set and could not control a backhand response to a smash on a set point in the ensuing tie-break, Federer was home and hosed, gliding across the court as though an ice dancer.
The red clay occupies the minds of four men now. For the rest, the subtleties of grass await. Andy Murray and Nadal are the head honchos in the AEGON Championships at Queen's Club next week; Federer and Novak Djokovic lead the field in Halle, Germany. The British No1 has half an eye on playing competitively the week before Wimbledon, with the Eastbourne event a possibility, if things do not work out as he would like with the initial transference to the grass and all the many changes it requires.
“You want to play matches to get used to the courts, the moving and stuff but it's not the end of the world if you lose early there,” Murray said, as he tried to think green after so much red. “I am experienced now, to reach the quarter-finals of a slam is tough. Not that many people have managed to do it and it does make the achievement better that when you grow up, there's not one clay court in the whole of Scotland. Getting into the last eight was a pretty good achievement.”
Source: timesonline.co.uk
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