It's Come Down To This ..

French Open 2009 : Robin Soderling Stands Between Roger Federer and Immortality.

Federer stretches to reach a ball
shot by Del Potro .

ROGER FEDERER showed yet again he has the bottle for the big occasion as he held his nerve to fight back from adversity and claim a place in the finals of the French Open .


Things were looking bleak for the world No . 2 when he fell two sets to one down to Juan Martin del Potro but the Swiss superstar stepped up to the plate to recover and claim a 3-6 7-6 2-6 6-1 6-4 victory in three hours and 28 minutes .

It was Federer's second five-set win this tournament after he was also taken the distance by Tommy Haas in the fourth round . It means he remains on course for a first success at Roland Garros as he squeezed through to his fourth successive final here without being on top form .

When Federer , 27 , lost the third set to del Potro , the Argentinian was and his serving consistently powerful groundstrokes were proving too much for the No . 2 seed . By that stage Federer had only earned two break points , converting neither of them , but he turned that round to finish the stronger ( Federer ) .

He is now just one win away from becoming the sixth player to complete a sweep of Grand Slams. Winning the final would also move him level with Pete Sampras on a record 14 Grand Slam titles .

Federer had won all his previous five meetings with Del Potro , not even dropping a set . But he ( Federer ) was broken in the fifth and ninth games to lose the first set here and the South American was dictating the rallies , profiting from Federer's weak and short backhands .

However , Del Potro played a poor second-set tie-break , hitting four shots into the net to gift the Swiss the leveller . But Del Potro recovered to speed through a 36-minute third set during which he broke twice more .

As the Argentinian tired , Federer found an extra gear , as he has done so often this past fortnight , and suddenly dominated Del Potro's serve . Del Potro grabbed one himself as the light started to fade but he doublefaulted in game seven to put Federer back in front .

This time , the Swiss did not falter . Federer said :

"There's still one more step .I was a bit lucky but I fought well. Juan Martin was
playing really well ."

Del Potro said :

"I feel so sad . I really wanted to be in that final and now I'm going to have
to watch it on TV ."

Roger Federer now has to battle it out at the finals to either make or break history as the sixth player to complete a sweep of Grand Slams . Winning the French Open would also mean that Federer will meet his long time dream of equalling Pete Sampras's record of 14 Grand Slam titles .

As far as Federer vs Soderling meetings go , Federer holds a daunting 9-0 record over the Swede . Their last meeting came only a matter of weeks ago at the Madrid Masters , with Federer victorious in a convincing 6-1 , 7-5 second round result .

However , if Soderling's form over the last two weeks is anything to go by , we are going to witness a completely different player in this match , and possibly a completely different result . Soderling's incredible power and accuracy in his shot selection in Paris has been astounding , and if the Swede were to continue with such fine ability against Federer , then it truly would be more than anyone's match .

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I really underastimated Federer . I thought he would have lost to Del Potro ( so it seems at the first three sets ) .

But considering how he plays out the game eventually , I think he might have a chance .

Without doubt , Federer is the best player in tennis history not only for his strength , but his determination and will-power to win despite facing humiliating losses this season on clay .


My prediction for the finals ?

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Well , even if Robin seems to beat the odds ,

I'd say Roger will win . He's the best , like no one else can .

Cheer for him , I know he will win !

See ya at the finals !


P/s : Wayne , I know your gunning for Nadal . But he's only gonna' be watching the finals through a glass television .
Go for Federer .

Pp/s : Aaron , read the ' Federer vs Soderling ' part . It changes one's opinion that Federer is a weaker person then Soderling .

L♥ve ,
Jaden