Roger Federer struggled after a tumble on the clay but recovered from a steep deficit to reach his 36th consecutive Grand Slam quarter-final on Sunday with a dramatic 6-1, 4-6, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 defeat of Gilles Simon at the French Open.
At times, the cheering for the Swiss second seed equalled that of the local player as Federer summoned all of his considerable resources in the midst of a serious crisis when he trailed two sets to one.
The victory in more than two and a half hours marked his 900th at the ATP level. Only three players have won more matches than Federer at Tour-level — Jimmy Connors (1,156), Ivan Lendl (1,068) and Guillermo Vilas (940).
“I don’t know if I lost confidence after I fell, but if you are negative you can lose. Gilles made it tough for me, but I regained my game in the last two sets.
“I’m very happy to go through to a 36th straight quarter-final. It takes a lot of years and a lot of sacrifice. I’m proud to have done this.”
Federer’s game seem to go cold after he took a fall midway through the second set after sweeping the first with relative ease against an opponent whom he crushed a fortnight ago in Rome.
The Swiss game went off the boil with Federer shanking shots and missing on opportunities, a phase which allowed 12th seed Simon to take command.
But as suddenly as he got lost, Federer found his way, picking up his level to grab a lifeline by winning the fourth set with two breaks as the excitement level rose among 16,000 fans.
The 17-time major titleholder ran off to victory in the final set, winning seven straight games out to 3-0 but still needing to battle through a final service game featuring two break points before Federer won on his second match point from Simon’s drive wide.
Federer will now turn to his next opponent, sixth seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who beat Viktor Troicki 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.
Ferrer yet to lose a set
Spain was guaranteed at least one semi-finalist as David Ferrer took an easy win to next play against record-setter Tommy Robredo.
The energetic 31-year-old beat 11th seed Nicolas Almagro 6-7 (5-7), 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4, winning his third consecutive match from two sets to love down. The only other man to do that was Frenchman Henri Cochet at 1927 Wimbledon.
“Being in the quarter—finals again, it’s amazing, and also, with three comebacks the way I did, it’s amazing, also,” said Robredo, who underwent surgery on an adductor muscle and began finding his game again this season.
Ferrer, who has yet to drop a set so far, crushed Kevin Anderson 6—3, 6—1, 6—1 with the South African buried by 41 unforced errors.
Ferrer’s win was his 101st at a Grand Slam and put him into his sixth straight quarter-final at a major and sets him up for a match with good friend Robredo.
Serena marches on
In women’s play, Serena Williams continued her winning march of 2013 as the top seed overcame Roberta Vinci 6—1, 6—3.
The world number one will square off with an opponent whom she has not played in four years when she faces the 2009 Roland Garros winner Svetlana Kuznetsova, who put out German eighth seed Angelique Kerber 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.
2002 winner Williams lost to Kuznetsova in the 2009 quarters, but holds a 6-2 lead in the series which began nine years ago.
Williams began her winning spring run on hardcourt in Miami and has taken five titles this season, including the key clay tune-ups in Madrid and Rome. She has won 28 straight matches including two in Fed Cup.
Kuznetsova has had an up-and-down ride in recent seasons, with her ranking now 29th, but the Russian has little interest in pondering what awaits in the next round.
2012 finalist Sara Errani, treated early on for stomach pain, won a 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 comeback over Carla Suarez Navarro.