Simon taken down by Federer at French Open MyZA

Roger Federer against Juan Martín del Potro in the 2009 French Open semifinals (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Roger Federer was chasing a shot when his right shoe got caught in the French Open’s red clay, resulting in his foot twisting awkwardly and him tumbling to the ground.

Soon enough, he was in a real rut, in danger of his earliest exit from a Grand Slam tournament in nine years.

Federer regrouped and restored order eventually, coming back from a two-sets-to-one deficit to beat 15th-seeded Gilles Simon of France 6-1, 4-6, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 Sunday in the fourth round to reach his 36th consecutive major quarterfinal.

“I didn’t hurt myself or anything,” Federer said. “But maybe I did lose that touch of confidence for a little bit, and then I was out of the match there for a bit.”

During a rare stretch of mid-match mediocrity from the owner of a record 17 Grand Slam championships — the 2009 French Open trophy is part of his collection — Federer lost 10 of 13 games, including the one in which he fell.

“I didn’t give him time,” said Simon, a one-time Grand Slam quarterfinalist. “I managed to start moving him around a bit.”

But Simon, a former member of the top 10, could not keep Federer down. Able to “tidy up my play,” as he put it, Federer went from hitting more than twice as many unforced errors as Simon in the second and third sets, 25-12, to generating more than twice as many winners in the fourth and fifth, 29-14.

“When things turn nasty,” Simon said, “he responds well.” – ABC News