Winning ugly

It was all going so well. Roger Federer looked as well groomed and carefully turned-out and as ever, and the Rod Laver Arena had greeted him like a favoured eldest son. He was playing, in Tomas Berdych, a man he had beaten seven straight times, and the sun was shining in the Melbourne afternoon sky. All was right with the world as far as the Australian Open’s second seed was concerned.

And then the match started.

To say that Federer was tested by Berdych is like saying that the Swiss is quite good at tennis. For all of two sets and most of the third, Federer was made to look a little silly by the tall Czech, running this way and that like an end-of-the-pier conjuror chasing spinning plates and missing shots which he has probably made thousands of times. Let us not make the mistake of blaming it all on Federer, for Berdych played – particularly on the forehand side – with verve, power and accuracy in the early exchanges and beyond, and was certainly worthy of his two-set lead after producing a tiebreaker which came straight from the top drawer. At that point a ripple of concern, mixed with excitement, went around Rod Laver Arena. This is the same Rod Laver Arena, lest we forget, that had just watched the women’s world No.1 Jelena Jankovic belted off the court by Marion Bartoli and had then fought every point with Dinara Safina as yet another tournament favourite struggled. There was something in the air, and Federer seemed to be coming down with a nasty case of it.

“I kind of felt after a terrible first set from my side that if I probably want to win this it's going to go to five sets. I just felt it. I knew Tomas was dangerous, and if I played even still a great set or three great sets, it's probably not going to happen. He would squeeze one great set in there somewhere, second, third, or fourth,” said Federer. “That's why I kind of was prepared for five from the start. I think that's what made me be so determined towards the end. It was nice being in a battle with him. It was fair play. It was tough, good tennis towards the end. I believed in it all the way, and I think that was key in the end.”

Federer does not have the look of a street-fighter. He always so neat and tidy in both his appearance and his tennis, which is why there is a marked contrast to the sweaty muscularity of Rafael Nadal. Rest assured, though, the urbane Swiss can get down and dirty with the best of them. We saw that grit last year when he overcame Janko Tipsarevic in five long sets, and it came to the fore once more against Berdych. “You’ve got to hang in there, right?” said Federer afterwards, with seemingly not a hair out of place. “I fought as hard as I could. I enjoy these kind of fights, because they don’t come around very often, especially on the Rod Laver Arena. I hope it’s a good omen. I feel in great shape and I could have played three more sets out there if I’d needed to.”

Federer was able, slowly but surely, to claw his way back into the match against Berdych. By the time he had levelled the contest and steered it towards the fifth set, the Czech was struggling both physically and mentally, and Federer was already looking forward to what is likely to be another bruising encounter, this time against Juan Martin Del Potro, in the quarterfinals.

Despite being detained for so long by Berdych, Federer made a point afterwards of talking about how fresh and fit he is feeling - but long matches at this stage of a Grand Slam campaign can be a double-edged sword. One the one hand, he would have gained untold confidence and match hardness; on the other, it must have made a dent in his reserves of stamina. One thing is for sure, though: Winning ugly is a good deal better than losing in the fourth round.