Former Slovakian tennis star Daniela Hantuchova said that Roger Federer, after a disastrous defeat at the hands of Rafael Nadal, will leave Roland Garros being very happy and a little bit frustrated. As stated by the former world number five on the official Roland Garros Youtube channel, strong winds at the Roland Garros decided the fate of the 39th meeting of the two legends.
Nadal who is known as the 'king of clay' got the upper hand as strong winds started blowing at the Philippe Chatrier Court, on Friday. The Spanish giant, according to Hantuchova, is not only the best player on clay court but also the best during windy conditions because of that extra spin he's got on both his shots and also his footwork.
"I am sure Rafa, when he woke up in the morning, he was like, oh yay, that's going to be a good day in the office", she said.
Hantuchova further added that Federer did the best he could have done. In her view, he fought well in the first two sets of the match but the conditions were against him. The 37- year old will be happy but a little bit frustrated as he could not show how he had prepared for the match.
Nadal defeated Federer 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 extending his head to head lead to 24-15 while it is 14-2 on clay court. Federer who won the French Open in 2009 stated that he will come back again next year as he would not retire. This was the 20-time Grand Slam Champion's heaviest defeat at a major since the 2008 French Open final, when he lost 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 to Nadal.
The 11-time French Open champion will now face Austrian ace Dominic Thiem, who defeated world No 1 Novak Djokovic.
