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Stan Wawrinka Crushes Roger Federer In French Open Quarterfinal

By Alanna Vopni
Published on: 10:28 PST, Jun 2, 2015

Roger Federer’s journey to a second French Open title ended on a windy day in Paris when he came up against countryman and better player on this day, Stanislas Wawrinka.

As reported earlier in this year’s French Open in the Inquisitr, Roger had luck on his side with the draw — managing to be able to avoid heavy rivals Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Andy Murray until one of them made it to the finals. But despite the fact that on paper, this was going to be the easiest draw he’d seen in a long time, in reality, he was still going to have to get through some dangerous opponents, including Wawrinka.

Wawrinka’s serve was unbreakable while Federer had trouble holding his service games. Wawrinka had all the answers in his 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 win and wasn’t willing to give much away. On a day when Federer struggled to find his form, due as much to Wawrinka not allowing him to find the rhythm as the wind, a ball that just kept coming back was too much.

But that doesn’t mean he didn’t leave everything out on the court.

“I was not going to leave the French Open without having tried everything out there. Stan was clutch on the big points and really didn’t give me much, so it was a credit to him for playing so well today.”

Federer’s loss streak at the majors continues — he hasn’t won a Grand Slam event since he won Wimbledon in 2012. But the good news for Federer fans is that Wimbledon is only a few short weeks away and it’s always been his favorite tournament and surface. If he’s going to nab another major, it very well happen there. Though Djokovic, Murray and a host of others will have something to say about it.

Following his volley winner, Wawrinka embraced his countryman and Davis Cup partner before stepping up to the microphone for an on-court interview. When asked how he felt about the win, Wawrinka got right to the point.

“It’s an incredible feeling for me.”

Wawrinka will now face popular Frenchman, Jo-Wilfrid Tsonga who overtook Kei Nishokori 6-1, 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3 to reach only his second French semi-final.

Tsonga’s five-set win wasn’t without drama, though not all of it was on the court.

Tsonga looked ready to run away with the match, up 5-2 in the second set when a heavy gust of wind blew a big piece of metal off a scoreboard at the top of the Philippe Chatrier stadium. The debris flew into the crowd, injuring three spectators. Thankfully, the fans weren’t seriously injured, though it did require an almost 40-minute break for medics and officials to secure the area.

Tsonga, clearly thrown by the incident, had a difficult time regaining his previous form until the fifth set. All he needed to do after breaking Nishokori early in the set was serve out the match.

After shaking hands with Nishokori, Tsonga wrote something on the court with his foot, which was difficult to make out until he lay down in the middle of it, creating a “T” with his body, to spell out “Roland, je t’aime” (Roland [Garros], I love you).

The last Frenchman to win the French Open was Yannick Noah in 1983, but in order to make history, Tsonga will have to get past a very strong and steady Wawrinka and go up against one of the four men left on the other side of the draw — Djokovic, Nadal, Murray, or Ferrer.

The match-up for the other semi-final will be decided on Wednesday with a solid Djokovic going up against a renewed Nadal and a highly-motivated Murray taking on the always scrappy Ferrer.

[Image courtesy Kenzo Tribouillard/Getty Images]

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