PARIS — There have been times this year when Roger Federer’s cloak of infallibility slid from his shoulders, when his absolute dominance against anyone but Rafael Nadal and at any tournament but the French Open wasn’t quite so absolute.
Federer arrived at Roland Garros with one title, his lowest count since 2001. He arrived with seven losses, more than his total for any of the previous three entire seasons.
And so it was Wednesday that for the first set of his French Open quarterfinal against 24th-seeded Fernando Gonzalez, Federer looked, well, human. His serve was broken three times. He shanked shots. He was, by his own admission, “a little bit rattled.” Still, as he’s done so many times, Federer adjusted and regrouped, beating Gonzalez 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 to extend his record by reaching a 16th consecutive Grand Slam semifinal.
“At one stage, I was a bit afraid,” the No. 1-ranked Federer said, “because the match was not going the way I wanted.”
In addition to his opening-set lapse, Federer fell behind love-40 while serving to begin the third. Given a chance to pull ahead again, Gonzalez missed two relatively easy shots before Federer won a 13-stroke exchange to account for the third break point. Thus began this amazing stretch: Federer won 36 of the last 40 points on his serve, including each of the final 17.
“It wasn’t the same Federer as the first set,” Gonzalez said.
Impressive as it was, Federer’s turnaround had nothing on the one fashioned by No. 13 Dinara Safina in the women’s quarterfinals. She trailed No. 7 Elena Dementieva by a set and 5-2 in the second, then was one point from losing at 5-3, before coming back to win 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-0.
The deficit was identical to the one faced by Safina a round earlier, when she trailed by a set and 5-2 in the second, and erased a match point at 5-3, en route to upsetting No. 1 Maria Sharapova.
“Once you went through this,” Safina said, “you always believe: ‘Why not the second time?’ ”
Safina’s semifinal today will be an all-Russian matchup against No. 4 Svetlana Kuznetsova. No. 2 Ana Ivanovic and No. 3 Jelena Jankovic will meet in an all-Serbian semifinal.
On Friday, Federer faces 59th-ranked Gael Monfils, a 21-year-old Frenchman who knocked off No. 5 David Ferrer 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1. In the other match, three-time defending champion Nadal will take his 26-0 record at the French Open into a showdown with No. 3 Novak Djokovic.
At a glance
A look at the French Open on Wednesday:
Men’s quarterfinals: No. 1 Roger Federer of Switzerland def. No. 24 Fernando Gonzalez of Chile 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4; Gael Monfils of France def. No. 5 David Ferrer of Spain 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1.
Women’s quarterfinals: No. 4 Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia def. Kaia Kanepi of Estonia 7-5, 6-2; No. 13 Dinara Safina of Russia def. No. 7 Elena Dementieva of Russia 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-0.
Stat of the day: 2 — Consecutive matches in which Safina has saved a match point. She did it in the fourth round against No. 1 Maria Sharapova, and again in the quarterfinals against Dementieva.
Quote of the day: “My only preference is I want to win both matches.” — Federer, when asked which players he would prefer to play in the semifinals and final
Women’s semifinals today: No. 2 Ana Ivanovic of Serbia vs. No. 3 Jelena Jankovic of Serbia; No. 4 Kuznetsova vs. No. 13 Safina.
Men’s semifinals Friday: No. 1 Federer vs. Monfils; No. 2 Rafael Nadal of Spain vs. No. 3 Novak Djokovic of Serbia.
Today’s TV: Tennis Channel 3-6 a.m. and 11 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; ESPN2 6 a.m.-11 a.m.
