Shock exit but Federer finds some consolation in defeat

Beaten by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarter-finals, and with one of his most remarkable runs brought to a crushing end, Federer was numbed by defeat but the distress which has accompanied previous losses on Centre Court was strangely absent.

Federer put it down to the performance of Tsonga, who became the first man Federer had lost to in a grand slam from a two-set start.

After winning 178 matches from two ahead in best-of-five contests, Federer seemed certain to reach number 179 when he breezed through the opener against Tsonga in 27 minutes and added the next on a tie-break.

But Tsonga’s improvement in that second set had been marked, and rather than fold in the next he grew in strength, and his serve became increasingly unplayable.

Federer’s standards hardly slipped, but his opponent was playing the kind of destructive tennis he has always been capable of but fleetingly produced.

It resulted in Federer losing 3-6 6-7 (3/7) 6-4 6-4 6-4, a year since Tomas Berdych beat him in four sets at the same stage.

“I think this one for some reason is going to be easier to digest than last year’s defeat,” Federer said.

“Even though this one was in five sets and I was up two sets to love, I don’t really feel like I lost from two sets to love up.

“It’s a strange feeling because I played well. I can’t blame my poor returning or my poor serving or my poor movement or anything like that in this match, and that makes it, I think, a bit easier to digest.

“Who knows, maybe it’s going to hurt me more in three days. I doubt it. I’ll be able to move on quickly.”

Tsonga produced his victory dance to delight a Centre Court crowd who had been enthralled by the fightback from the Frenchman with a Congolese background.

Last night Tsonga sized up the scale of his achievement, as he began to look ahead to tomorrow’s semi-final with Novak Djokovic.

“I was just perfect today,” Tsonga said.

“I served just unbelievably. But in the match before I felt really confident on this shot. I hope it will continue.”

He rained down 12 aces against David Ferrer in the fourth round; yesterday it was 18 to Federer’s 17.

Tsonga’s spirit was unbreakable. “I think I’ve improved a lot mentally,” he said.

“I’m the kind of player who likes these big moments. So I hope I will have some more.

“It’s special to beat Roger Federer in a quarter-final here on this big court. The feeling is like maybe beating Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros.”

And of course Tsonga is two steps away from a first grand slam title.

“Can you win Wimbledon?” was the question.

“Why not?” the reply.

Tsonga is a man who can call on many sources of inspiration.

“From France, from Congo, from my family, from my house, from everywhere,” he said.

“From here.”

The performance from Federer had been masterful in the early stages.

“Federer, you’re a genius,” went up the cry from a spectator.

Federer had lost just once in five prior meetings with Tsonga – in the quarter-finals at Montreal two years ago.

That was Federer’s first tournament following a couple of weeks of paternity leave from the tour, after wife Mirka gave birth to their twin daughters. It was one of those excusable defeats.

Watching the action from the Royal Box were the likes of golf legend Jack Nicklaus and Vogue editor Anna Wintour, a Federer fanatic, enamoured with his chic tennis as much as his dress sense. She is not used to seeing him lose quarter-finals, though.

It might be considered a worrying habit, the signal that the end of Federer’s days as a grand slam title contender are perhaps almost over.

But it was less than four weeks ago that Federer reached the French Open final, when his title match against Nadal could have swung either way before going to the Spaniard.

Federer was far from despondent as he began to make plans for the rest of the week, with his schedule having been cleared.

“I thought my game was plenty good enough this year to win the tournament,” Federer said.

“Unfortunately there’s only one that can win it, and the rest go home empty-handed. That’s what happened to me today. I think Jo played an amazing match so obviously it’s disappointing.

“But the game is there. I’m happy. I’m healthy. I feel much better than a year ago. Even though I took a tough loss today, I don’t feel discouraged in any way. I think that’s key right now, to not let anything get to me.”

The last of his record haul of 16 grand slams came at the Australian Open almost 18 months ago, and Federer will have turned 30 by the time the US Open comes around in August.

Asked whether he can win more slams, the answer was as expected.

“I think I definitely can, yes,” Federer said. “I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t the case.”

Britain’s Liam Broady beat junior world No 1 Jiri Vesely for the second week in a row to reach the quarter-finals of the boys’ singles at Wimbledon.

The 17-year-old from Stockport, who is the only home player left in the boys’ event, withstood an onslaught from his Czech opponent at the end of the second set to come through 6-4 7-5.

Broady, a junior Wimbledon champion in the doubles last year, is considered one of Britain’s brightest hopes and last week won the prestigious warm-up event in Roehampton.

He next faces Germany’s Robin Kern, who put out fifth seed Filip Horansky in the third round for the loss of only four games.

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