PARIS: Stumbling on his way to the net, Roger Federer dropped his racket and fell to his knees on the red clay. Hardly the sort of grace and precision the world has come to expect from the 17-time Grand Slam champion.

There were other unusual sights in Federer’s 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (4) loss in the French Open quarter-final on Tuesday against his pal and Swiss Davis Cup team-mate Stan Wawrinka.

Rarely injured and appearing in a 62nd consecutive major, Federer received treatment on his right hand from a trainer during a second-set tiebreaker.

For years and years, a dominant and confident force in tennis, Federer slumped in his changeover chair, head bowed, after falling behind two sets to none.

So long superior to the younger Wawrinka, Fede­rer was defeated for only the third time in the­ir 19 head-to-head matches, and for the first time in five meetings at Grand Slam events.

During the eight French Opens from 2005 to 2012, Federer reached at least the semi-finals seven times, including winning the 2009 championship to complete a career Grand Slam.

But this is now the third year in a row that Federer has exited Roland Garros in the quarterfinals or earlier.

Give Wawrinka credit. Powering the ball from the baseline in Court Suzanne Lenglen on a windy day, he produced groundstrokes that cut through gusts topping 30mph (50kph).

Over at Court Philippe Chatrier, during the quarter-final between Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Kei Nishikori, three people were injured when a piece of metal paneling was blown off a giant TV screen and fell on the stands below.

Late in the third set of Federer’s loss, he missed a backhand that got caught in the wind and let out a guttural “Aaaaah! He never managed to consistently find the range on his shots, and Wawrinka put together a 43-28 edge in winners.

Wawrinka also managed to break Federer’s serve three times, while saving all four break points he faced.

As well as Wawrinka played, he probably would have been just fine without the point conceded by Federer that made it 4-3 for the eventual winner after a disputed call in the tiebreaker.

This is his 11th appearance at Roland Garros, equalling the most in the professional era, which began in 1968, for a man getting to his first semi-final in Paris.

Wawrinka next faces No. 5 Nishikori or No. 14 Tsonga, whose match was interrupted for about 40 minutes after the piece of metal hit a barrier and a piece of equipment on its way down, slowing its fall before tumbling onto packed rows of spectators. French Open organisers said none of the injuries was serious.

The quarter-finals on the other half of the men’s draw are Wednesday, with a real blockbuster looming: No. 1 Novak Djokovic against nine-time champion Rafael Nadal. No. 3 Andy Murray plays No. 7 David Ferrer in the other quarter-final.

One women’s semi-final was set on Tuesday: No. 7 Ana Ivanovic of Serbia against No. 13 Lucie Safarova of Russia. Safarova beat Garbine Muguruza 7-6 (3), 6-3 to reach the second major semi-final of her career.

Ivanovic reached her first Grand Slam semi-final since winning the 2008 French Open, eliminating 20-year-old Elina Svitolina of Ukraine 6-3, 6-2.

In Monday’s last singles match, two-time Wimbledon champion and Czech fourth seed Petra Kvitova was sent packing when she lost 2-6, 6-0, 6-3 to Swiss Timea Bacsinszky in a ding-dong fourth-round encounter on Court Suzanne Lenglen that finished in fading light.

It was the second victory in as many matches against Kvitova for the 23rd seed, who will face Belgian sensation Alison van Uytvanck in the quarter-finals with the winner of that match becoming a first-time Grand Slam semi-finalist.

Published in Dawn, June 3rd, 2015

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