Roger Federer has long been the king of comebacks. At the 2017 Australian Open, the Swiss, who goes into this season ranked 17th, pulled off two mammoth back-to-back wins over 10th seed Tomas Berdych and World No. 5 Kei Nishikori, the latter going into an epic five-setter that saw Federer hold on until the very end as the Japanese ace pulled out all the stops to fight his lower-ranked opponent, who just happens to be the GOAT.
Wimbledon 2016, against Marin Cilic
It is no secret that the grass-courts of Wimbledon are Roger Federer’s favourite stomping grounds. Despite his struggles with pain and injury last year, the Swiss made a mammoth run to progress till the semi-finals of the tournament. And he might have won that match too, had it not been for his gruelling quarter-final against Croat ace Marin Cilic.
Roger Federer has been nothing short of the King of Wimbledon, but on this day, Cilic brought his A-game and then some, hitting big, powerful serves and weighty groundstrokes that completely evaded the Swiss. He started off with a strong fight, taking Cilic to tiebreak with a mammoth 17 winners in the first set alone.
But it was in that tiebreak that Federer appeared to come momentarily unravelled. After Cilic raced to a win in the tiebreak, he attempted a few comebacks in the second set only for Cilic’s big shot-making to see him broken and eventually losing the second set too.
The set losses appeared, perhaps, to spur the Swiss on to more attacking, powerful tennis that stretched the match to a further three sets – with Federer winning each one and sealing the match.
He lost the first two sets – as he had already done nine times before, but then, despite Cilic having held match points, soldiered on for a strong five-set win – one of Federer’s best matches in recent years.
Miami Masters 2005, against Rafael Nadal
Roger Federer, then at the peak of his form, was uneviquocally the favourite to win the 2005 Miami Masters; although he progressed easily to the final, it was there that the Swiss found his biggest roadblock – a Spanish sensation named Rafael Nadal, who then was in the early stages of what would go on to be a stellar career.
Federer had lost to Nadal at the same venue only a year prior, and on that occasion had lost in straight sets. This time, too, it looked as though the Spaniard would steamroll his opposition, taking a quick two sets to love lead. But Federer then fought back to take the third set to tiebreak, which was the key, perhaps, in shifting the balance of power in that match to Federer.
He would go on to win 2–6, 6–7(4–7), 7–6(7–5), 6–3, 6–1.
French Open 2012, against Juan Martin Del Potro
Seeded third at Roland Garros in 2012, Federer faced former US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro in the quarter-finals of the French Open. The pair had played epic matches before, most notably at the final of Del Potro’s only Grand Slam title to date – the 2009 US Open.
Not exactly pulling out his best tennis at that match, Federer looked slightly lackluster all through, but this match saw a spike in the tennis once the pair reached a tiebreak in the second set. And it was Del Potro who won that set, battling against a flagging Federer.
But as he has so many times in the past, Federer blossomed from two sets down. He took crucial breaks in the deciding set, and with Del Potro now stretched to his limit, the tall Argentine began to commit a number of errors and double faults.
Federer then dialed up for 3-6 6-7 (4/7) 6-2 6-0 6-3.
French Open 2009, against Tommy Haas
Just before Federer’s match against Germany’s Tommy Haas, unseeded at the 2009 French Open, French Open king Rafa Nadal had crashed out. But Federer was up against a new beast, when the talented Haas took him to tiebreak straightaway in the first set – and won it.
Then, just as it looked that Federer had a chance in the second, Haas pressed the gas late in that set and won that too. Now, down two sets, Federer could easily have lost motivation and bottled.
But that was not what happened. Despite Haas being in an advantageous position to serve for the match, Federer fought back to win 14 of the next 16 games.
Federer broke twice in the deciding set to take that match.
He would go on to win the title that year.
US Open 2014, against Gael Monfils
Federer has been two sets down to love – but here, he was also two match points down. After a quick loss in the first two sets – 4-6, 3-6 to Monfils, it seemed the Frenchman was tiring significantly, and Federer quickly took advantage to win the third set 6-4.
Although the next game was far closer, it was Monfils who had the upper hand here – holding two match points in that set. Unfortunately for the Frenchman, however, he crucially gifted Federer not one but two double faults in the set – bringing Federer right back into control.
Dialing up the attack, Federer went on to win the next 5 games on the trot, taking the final set 6-2 and with it, the match.
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