The Day Swiss legend Federer Survived a Match He Says He Had No Right to Win
Roger Federer reached the semifinal at the Australian Open in 2020, in what marked his last appearance in the final four of a Grand Slam.
Federer‘s days of domination were well behind him at this stage of his career, and at 38, he was quickly approaching retirement.
The Swiss legend was still determined to increase his tally of 20 major titles, however, after coming agonisingly close to doing so the year prior.
At Wimbledon in 2019, Federer lost to Novak Djokovic in the final, despite having multiple championship points.
In Melbourne the following January, he was set to play the Serb again after defeating unseeded American Tennys Sandgren in the quarterfinals, whom he narrowly escaped.
Roger Federer’s 2020 Australian Open quarterfinal victory
After Sandgren went up in the match by two sets to one, he had seven match point opportunities to close it out in the fourth.
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Federer saved each one and forced a fifth set, before ultimately emerging victorious.
In his on-court interview after the match, he said: “You’ve got to get lucky sometimes, I tell you that, because in those seven match points you’re not under control, it might look that way, but I don’t know.
“I was just hoping that maybe he was not going to smash the winner on that one point, then you just keep the ball in play, and if he does miss one or two, who knows what he’s thinking about.
But even that, I don’t think really matters, I think he played his match. I think I got incredibly lucky today. And then as the match went on, I started to feel better again and, you know, all the pressure went away and I just tried to play.
“And again, got a little lucky to get the break, and I served really well, I think, for most of the match; at the end especially. So I don’t deserve this one, but I’m standing here and I’m obviously very, very happy.”
Roger Federer said he ‘believed in miracles’ during his 2020 Australian Open quarterfinal
When asked about his injury struggles during the contest, Federer replied: “There’s been a lot of tennis throughout my life, and sometimes you feel a little bit funny.
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“I started to feel my groin and my leg starting to just tighten up, and I was really struggling in defense.
“I really don’t like calling the trainer ever because it’s a sign of weakness and all that stuff and I try not to show it.
“But at the end I was like whatever, I’m going to have some extra treatment on the leg, people know I’m probably not a hundred percent.
“And I just said like, you know, I believe in miracles. I just thought it wasn’t bad enough that I thought I was going to get worse. It was just stiff. [I thought] just let him finish me off in style, and he didn’t do that, so incredibly lucky tonight.”
Federer went on to lose to Djokovic in straight sets in the semifinal, which was his last match ever at the Australian Open.
