Best Grand Slam Matches: Part 2

2. Roger Federer d. Marin Cilic 6-7(4), 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(9), 6-3/QF/Wimbledon

Every year lately, when a certain Swiss player heads to a certain grass tennis club in England, his millions of fans ask a four-word question: Is this the year? As in, is this the year Roger Federer will win his record eighth Wimbledon title?

This June, it had been four years since the right-hander had captured his seventh Wimbledon crown. He had come close in 2014 and 2015, losing in the final to Novak Djokovic, and that’s exactly why Federer fans were so excited before his quarter-final match against Marin Cilic.

Djokovic, the two-time defending Wimbledon champion, had lost to Sam Querrey in the third round, leaving second seed Andy Murray, third seed Federer and sixth seed Milos Raonic as the remaining top contenders. And Federer led his FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalries against both Murray and Raonic.

But before any fan dreamt of another title, Federer had to face Cilic in a rematch of their 2014 US Open semi-final, which Cilic had won en route to his first Grand Slam title. “He blew me off the court at the US Open. I know what I’m getting into,” Federer said.

Read Match Report: Federer Escapes, Moves Into SFs

The match began almost like a continuation of that semi-final. Cilic was blasting his serve-forehand combination. The 6’6” right-hander was controlling the match, winning almost 90 per cent of the points that started with his first serve during the first two sets.

Midway through the third set, though, Federer crawled through an opening. The Swiss was down three break points at 3-3, 0/40, but he somehow won five straight points to hold and hear screams from the Centre Court crowd. He’d soon take the third set.

Cilic refused to hang his head in the fourth set, though, and earned three match points, including two on Federer’s second serve. But Cilic put neither of those serves in play, and Federer erased all three match points en route to winning the fourth set after a 20-point tie-break.

“If we would go back to play again, I would try to be more aggressive on the chances when I had them in the fourth. Maybe there was a slight hesitation [during] some of them,” Cilic said.

Federer carried that momentum for the entire fifth set, breaking Cilic at 4-3 and ending the match with two of his seven aces. To the delight of the Centre Court crowd, Federer had come back from two-sets down for the 10^th time in his career and kept his title hopes alive.

“Today was epic. Probably going to look back at this as being a great, great match that I played in my career, on Centre Court here at Wimbledon,” Federer said. “This is huge for me, my season, my career. I’m very, very happy.”

1. Lucas Pouille d. Rafael Nadal 6-1, 2-6, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(6)/4R/US Open

All season long, Lucas Pouille had shown he was one of the best players on the ATP World Tour during the biggest moments. Coming into the US Open, the Frenchman was ranked No. 25 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, but he had played like Top 5 player when under pressure, according to the Under Pressure Leaders category of the ATP Stats LEADERBOARDS, powered by the Infosys Information Platform.

The 22 year old, however, had never faced a pressurised moment quite like this one: Fifth-set tie-break. Fourth round of a Grand Slam. Facing Big Four member and two-time US Open champion Rafael Nadal.

Past history pointed to a Nadal rout. The Spaniard had dismissed Pouille 6-2, 6-1, at the 2015 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, and before the 2016 US Open, Pouille had never won a match at Flushing Meadows. “I was not confident before the match,” Pouille would say later.

Read Match Report: Pouille Conquers Nadal In New York

Then again, 2016 had already been a breakthrough season for Pouille. He had hiked 62 spots in the Emirates ATP Rankings, played in his first ATP World Tour final (Bucharest, l. to Verdasco) and reached his first Grand Slam quarter-final at Wimbledon (l. to Berdych). So why not add one more career-best achievement to the list?

The Frenchman rolled through the opening set, but Nadal answered in the second set, and back-and-forth they went, each player finding ways to answer the other’s momentum. In the fifth set, Nadal led 4-2 and appeared headed towards his seventh US Open quarter-final. It would have marked his first Grand Slam quarter-final of 2016 as well.

But Pouille found a way to turn things around against the 2010 and 2013 US Open champion. All match long, the 6’1” right-hander had brought the action to Nadal, charging the net and stepping around his backhand to pelt winners. For the match, Pouille would win 60 per cent of his net points (38/63) and hit 59 winners.

Most importantly, he didn’t let nerves change his game plan in the fifth-set tie-break. The Frenchman led 6/3 in the tie-break before Nadal won three straight points for 6/6. The Spaniard then had a chance to earn a match point but he missed a short forehand putaway.

“A big mistake, yeah. But you are six-all in the tie-break. I played the right point. I put [myself] in a position to have the winner and I had the mistake,” Nadal said. “You cannot go crazy thinking about these kind of things.”

Pouille seized the opportunity the very next point. At 7/6, the Frenchman slid to his left once more and unleashed a forehand that sailed over the high part of the net and landed just inside the sideline. “It’s the best win of my career so far,” he’d say later.

For the second Grand Slam tournament in a row, Pouille had reached the last eight. No one could say he hadn’t earned it. The 22 year old had won three consecutive five-set matches. Pressure? Lucas Pouille lives for it!