Tennis

The Tweener Was About The Only Shot That Didn’t Work For Roger Federer Last Night

It’s almost a tradition by now – at some point during the last three U.S. Open tournaments, Roger Federer, backed to the farthest reaches of the court, was left with only one option – a between-the-legs shot with his back facing the net. In 2009, Novak Djokovic put him in that position – and Federer responded with what may well have been the greatest shot in the history of tennis. Last year, Brian Dabul forced Federer to try it again…and Federer pulled it off again. And last night/this morning against Juan Monaco, Federer found himself in a tweener position. And…

Well, third time’s not always a charm. Luckily for Federer, he didn’t need to make the shot in the least – in one of sports’ great careers, last night’s performance was among Federer’s most all-time dominant. He dispatched Monaco 6-1, 6-2, 6-0, despite a start time that was pushed back to nearly midnight thanks to some longer matches earlier in the day. At one point, Federer won a service game with four straight aces. He might be getting older, but when he’s still capable of playing at this level, you can never count him out – tweener or no tweener.