FEDERER OUT, MURRAY SURVIVES ON ANOTHER DRAMA-FILLED DAY AT ROLAND GARROS BY RICKY DIMON

Written by: Staff on 1st June 2014

French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros

FEDERER OUT, MURRAY SURVIVES ON ANOTHER DRAMA-FILLED DAY AT ROLAND GARROS BY RICKY DIMON

epa04235387 Roger Federer of Switzerland returns to Ernests Gulbis of Latvia in their fourth round match during the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, 01 June 2014. EPA/YOAN VALAT |

For the first time since 2004, Roger Federer is out of the French Open prior to the quarterfinals. His exit did not, however, come before an entertaining five-set battle against Ernests Gulbis that saw the underdog prevail 6-7(5), 7-6(3), 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.

A back-and-forth affair featured tons of momentum swings, with Gulbis leading by a break in each of the first two sets only to lose the opener in a tiebreaker and eventually trail the second 5-3. Federer served for a two-set lead and held multiple set points, but he could not convert and ended up losing it in another ‘breaker.

After Gulbis dominated the third, Federer rolled through the fourth–although Gulbis started to get some momentum on his side by getting one break back with Federer serving at 5-2 following a seven-minute injury timeout on the Latvian’s part. There were no twists and turns in the fifth, though. Gulbis broke right away for 2-0 advantage and the one break proved to be the difference.

“Probably the most important, especially because it was five sets,” the world No. 17 when asked if this was the biggest win of his career. “I beat him before, but it was a three‑set match. So for my confidence and just for me as a tennis player, a five‑set win over Roger Federer, it’s really big.

“Yes, for sure,” Gulbis continued when asked if he considered this an upset. “For sure. If you see the rankings, you see everything. It’s a big upset. It’s a big win for me.”

“A lot of regrets here now,” Federer said in his post-match press conference. “But I think Gulbis, you know, did a good job of hanging around and clearly coming back in that second set was crucial for him, I think.

“Mentally I have already switched to the grass, to be quite honest. For me, it’s like, ‘Okay, clay court season was fun, but we are moving on.’ Clay doesn’t need me anymore; I got flushed out here.”

Andy Murray, on the other hand, cannot yet think about his upcoming title defense on the grass courts of Wimbledon. Murray won the continuation of his match against Philipp Kohlschreiber that had been suspended at 7-7 in the fifth set on Saturday. The Scot missed a match point at 9-8, then saved a break point at 9-9 before finally breaking Kohlschreiber at 11-10 for a 12-10 victory.

“Today was a pretty high standard, I thought,” Murray assured. “Probably the best standard of the match I think from both of us. He came up with some great shots when he was behind in games today. I thought both of us served a little bit better. It was a good finish to the match.”

Next up for Murray on Monday is Fernando Verdasco. Gulbis will face Tomas Berdych on Tuesday.

Topics: Andy Murray, Ernests Gulbis, Fernando Verdasco, French Open, Ricky Dimon, Roger Federer, Roland Garros, Tennis, Tennis News, Tomas Berdych

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10sBalls_com says:

June 1, 2014 at 7:19 pm

FEDERER OUT, MURRAY SURVIVES ON ANOTHER DRAMA-FILLED DAY AT ROLAND GARROS BY @RD_Tennistalk – http://t.co/EdsEPyyxSr @rogerfederer #RG14
RD_Tennistalk says:

June 1, 2014 at 7:30 pm

RT @10sBalls_com: FEDERER OUT, MURRAY SURVIVES ON ANOTHER DRAMA-FILLED DAY AT ROLAND GARROS BY @RD_Tennistalk – http://t.co/EdsEPyyxSr @ro…
markwoodsey35 says:

June 1, 2014 at 7:33 pm

RT @10sBalls_com: FEDERER OUT, MURRAY SURVIVES ON ANOTHER DRAMA-FILLED DAY AT ROLAND GARROS BY @RD_Tennistalk – http://t.co/EdsEPyyxSr @ro…