Federer suffers earliest French Open defeat since 2004

Gulbis routs 2009 champion to set up last-eight clash against Berdych.

PARIS:

Roger Federer crashed to his earliest French Open defeat since 2004 on Sunday when he was bundled out in the last 16 by controversial Latvian Ernests Gulbis.

Gulbis won 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (7/3), 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 to reach his first quarter-final at a major since he made the last eight in Paris six years ago.

Federer, 32 years old and the 2009 champion, last failed to make the quarter-finals in 2004 when he was demolished in the third round by Gustavo Kuerten.

Victory on Sunday would have put the 17-time major winner into a record 42nd Grand Slam quarter-final.

Gulbis will now face Czech sixth seed Tomas Berdych in his last-eight clash.

He unleashed 13 aces and 53 winners with Federer further undone by an uncharacteristic 59 unforced errors as he lost a five-setter in Paris for the first time.

“It’s the biggest win of my career,” said Gulbis. “It was a tough match and I’m sorry as I know that most of you wanted Federer to win.”

In another match, Wimbledon champion Andy Murray battled to a four-hour 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 12-10 win over Philipp Kohlschreiber to reach fourth round.

The British seventh seed, who next faces Spanish left-hander Fernando Verdasco and was a semi-finalist in 2011, had been level at 7-7 with the German 28th seed when the match was halted on Saturday night.

When the pair reappeared, Murray squandered a match point at 9-8 but wrapped up the match in the 22nd game of the decider in a clash which featured 18 breaks of serve and 123 unforced errors.

It was the longest fifth set of Murray’s career and the first time he had been taken the full distance since defeating Verdasco in last year’s Wimbledon quarter-finals.



“Last night was tough for me as I did a lot of running, so under the circumstances we both played some good points,” he said. “It was a pretty high standard.”

The 30-year-old Verdasco, seeded 24, reached the fourth round for the first time since 2010 with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 win over France’s 12th seed Richard Gasquet in another third round tie held over from Saturday.

Meanwhile, Berdych made the quarter-finals for the second time with a 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 win over America’s 10th seed John Isner.

Bouchard, Navarro into Paris last eight

Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard and Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain led the way into the quarter-finals at Roland Garros on Sunday.

Bouchard, a 20-year-old Canadian from Montreal, who has stormed up the world rankings in the last year, crushed German eighth seed Angelique Kerber 6-1, 6-2 to reach her second Grand Slam quarter-final. Her first came in Australia in January when she made it through to the semis.

Suarez Navarro a 25-year Canary Islander, is through to her fourth Grand Slam quarter-final, six years after playing in the last eight at Roland Garros on her debut in the competition.

The 14th seed saw off the challenge of Croatia’s Ajla Tomljanovic, winning 6-3, 6-3.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 2^nd, 2014.

Like Sports on Facebook, follow @ETribuneSports on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.