Beijing 2008 - Federer into doubles final

Eurosport - Fri, 15 Aug 19:28:00 2008

Roger Federer bounced back from his dismal singles defeat to sweep into the finals of the Olympic doubles with a stunning victory over the top-seeded Bryan brothers from the United States.

TENNIS 2008 Pékin Beijing Roger Federer - 0

Federer, serving superbly and constantly attacking at the net, combined with fellow Swiss Stanislaw Wawrinka for a 7-6 6-4 victory that could give him the gold that has eluded him in a glittering career.

Playing on a sun-kissed court after their match had to be postponed on Thursday due to torrential rain, Federer and Wawrinka first scored an impressive 6-2 6-4 win over India's Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes.

Then it was on to much tougher opposition -- two of the world's top doubles specialists.

The Americans lost the tie-break and then Mike Bryan's service was broken in the seventh game of the second set.

Wawrinka collapsed on the court in relief afterwards and an ebullient Federer was quick to give him a victory hug. Federer was fulsome in praise of his partner, saying: "I always believed in my chances, especially with a fellow top 10 player."

With the Olympics only coming around every four years, Federer said he puts "a lot of pressure" on himself.

"This is the biggest sporting event in the world and you feel special to be in something so important," he said. Federer, who loses his world number one ranking next week and was sadly out of form in the Olympic singles against American James Blake on Thursday, revelled in the doubles, firing off winners and duelling fast and furiously in the rallies.

In the final, the Swiss will meet Sweden's Simon Aspelin and Thomas Johansson who had to play the longest three-set men's match since tennis returned to the Olympics in 1988.

In a superb marathon full of thrilling rallies, they defeated Frenchmen Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra 7-6 4-6 19-17 after four hours and 45 minutes of engrossing tennis.

The French pair salvaged one match point at 13-14 in the deciding set and it was Clement's serve that finally crumbled in the 36th and final game.

Johansson said: "It was even tougher mentally than it was physically. Simon and I could have gone on for a couple more hours."

Reuters

Comment 1 - 13 of 13

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  1. Goooooooooooooooooooooooooo ROGERRRRR. you are the best­ player in the world. You will win the doubles final,­ and still the number one in the world.LOVE YOU ROGER

    From Farzad, on Sat 16 Aug 9:15AM

  2. @lovellsamm
    You are obviously blind or just an­ idiot.This is an article about Federer and not­ Nadal.Really glad that Roger can redeem himself.This­ is important because in situation like this one maybe­ not winning in the singles but gaining some respect for­ himself in the doubles can prove crucial to his further­ return to form.

    From hstalev, on Sat 16 Aug 7:13AM

  3. Go Roger! I love u just the way u r

    From the_emancipation_of_missangel, on Sat 16 Aug 4:32AM

  4. Really happy to see Roger has a chance of redeeming­ himself in the doubles. They faced v. tough opponents­ today & came through. Both pairs will be tired­ after today, but the ones with the most stamina will­ win the gold - I'm just keeping my fingers crossed­ & will be following the scores.

    From Diana, on Sat 16 Aug 12:16AM

  5. Roger, you are the best EVER! Get yourself a top-class­ coach and you will be back at No.1. Rafa will not­ last long at the top. MoniEv

    From monica.everest, on Fri 15 Aug 11:55PM

  6. oger, you are the best EVER! Get yourself a top-class­ coach and you will be back at No.1. Rafa will not­ last long at the top. MoniEv

    From monica.everest, on Fri 15 Aug 11:53PM

  7. congrats to roger and stan.... go for gold!!! good­ luck... though it would be an incredible if you are in­ the singles fi!nal with rafa... but then you have done­ already an incredible records in the history of­ tennis.. cheers

    From unspoken words, on Fri 15 Aug 11:09PM

  8. well i really hope roger and wawrinka go on to win­ gold, it would be an excellent twist in the federer­ tale, i am sure he would have prefered the singles­ title but what a good consolation prize for somebody­ who has achieved so much and who has recently gone­ through such a down period. it would certainly make a­ disastrous year in his terms much more palatable in the­ end. go roger....

    From ralph, on Fri 15 Aug 7:53PM

  9. CONGRATS! to Rafa for the great match againts Djokovic­ and going through to the FINAL on sunday, the GOLD is­ only a breath away, French Open/Wimbeldone/Olympics­ & the US open to come, to conqure all in 1 year,­ wot a wonderfull year for him....:) No1 all the way!

    From lovellsamm, on Fri 15 Aug 6:31PM

  10. COME ON ROGER YOU CAN MAKE THE FINAL GIVE IT YOU'RE­ ALL SHOW EVERYONE THAT YOU'RE NOT PASSED IT AS­ SUGGESTED.THIS IS JUST A BLIP YOU'RE HAVING NOTHING­ SERIOUS YOU WILL BE BACK TO NUMBER ONE IN KNOW TIME YOU­ WAIT AND SEE.I LOVE RAFA NADAL BUT DON'T THINK HE­ WILL BE NUMBER ONE AS LONG AS ROGER.ROGER CAN RELAX NOW­ HE WON'T BE THE HUNTED RAFA WILL.
    ALISON MERRITT

    From AJ, on Fri 15 Aug 4:04PM

  11. go roger! the gold is swiss!!

    From Varnavas P, on Fri 15 Aug 3:59PM

  12. Roger is passed it!

    From Charles, on Fri 15 Aug 2:37PM

  13. Cmon Roger and co and get to the final and take that­ gold!
    And good luck to the Williams sisters.

    From Heathcliffe D, on Fri 15 Aug 1:59PM
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