TORONTO – It’s not Roger’s Cup this year.
In one of the most shocking upsets in Canadian tennis history, Roger Federer lost his opening round match at the Rogers Cup last night in Toronto to Frenchman Gilles Simon (2-6, 7-5, 6-4).
After cruising to a first-set victory, Feder started to stumble in the second set which went to a tiebreak. At a post-game press conference, the world’s best player tried to explain what happened.
“It was one of those matches, maybe I think I should have never lost,” he said. “It was a disappointing match today.”
This was the second defeat in a row for the Swiss player, after losing the epic battle against rival Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon. While Federer didn’t want to make excuses, he did point out the lack of practice time he has had since the last Grand Slam as being part of the reason for his uncharacteristic play.
“Only really three, four days of practice since Wimbledon,” he said. “It’s not an excuse in any way, but I’m going to get some practice in.”
For the first time in a long time, Federer looked human again and said that he held himself responsible for what happened.
“I think the problem was my game today,” he said. “I had everything to really put him away. I didn’t think I served well today at all. It’s tough. Different balls than at Wimbledon.”
While Federer’s number one ranking is now in serious jeopardy, the same cannot be said for Gilles Simon who won the biggest match of his career and had momentum on his side after winning the Indianapolis Tennis Championships last week against Russian Dmitry Tursunov (6-4, 6-4). After the match, Simon talked about his unbelievable victory.
“For sure, this is my best victory,” Simon said. “Even if he’s not the No. 1 next week.”
Simon went on to talk about the surreal win.
“I mean, maybe some players are used to his game, but it was not my case because because it was the first time I played against him,” Simon mused. “It’s so impressive when you enter into the central court against Federer.”
Simon moves on to face Argentinian Jose Acasuso in the third round.
