MELBOURNE, Australia – Roger Federer was not going to go gently, of course, no matter how daunting the number of match points – his opponent accumulated seven! – no matter how achy his 38-year-old legs, no matter how slow his serves, no matter how off-target his groundstrokes.
Despite all sorts of signs he was not quite himself for much of the match, Federer beat the biceps-bearing, hard-hitting, court-covering Sandgren 6-3, 2-6, 2-6, 7-6 , 6-3 on Tuesday in a rollicking quarterfinal that appeared to be over long before it truly was. Federer was involved in a dispute with the chair umpire over cursing. Left the court for a medical timeout early in the third set, then was visited by a trainer later for a right leg massage.
On they went to a tiebreaker, which included the bizarre sight of a ballkid running into Sandgren’s right calf at the 3-all changeover. Didn’t seem to bother the guy, though, because he grabbed the next three points to put himself a single point from winning.“Got to get lucky sometimes, I’ll tell you that,” Federer said. “Because in those seven match points, you’re not under control.”