2006

Federer vs Ancic ● Wimbledon 2006 QF Highlights

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• published: 29 Feb 2016
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A classic grass court match overflowing with divine God Mode shotmaking! Mario Ancic, the Croatian player whose game seemed tailor made for the green steeples and spires of SW19’s turf as much as the lawnmowers of Wimbledon themselves were designed to cut the very same grass. His serve was inch-perfect, his volleys Tupperware tight, and his powerful groundstrokes flashy as the Fourth of July. His problem though; he was going to battle Federer on the fifth of July. That being said, Ancic did bring with him a bucket full of confidence from his fifth set victory in the fourth round over another young protégé: Novak Djokovic. An intriguing match-up was in the making!.. Four years earlier, in 2002, then 18 year old little known Ancic inflicted a huge upset, postponing Federer’s quest for a dearly coveted first Wimbledon trophy. Federer, a well-established top 10 player back in the day had a fair amount of points to defend from his heroic venture a year earlier when he beat reigning King of Grass, mister Pistol Pete himself, deep in the fifth set in the fourth round of the 2001 Wimbledon campaign. But that year, Ancic sent Federer packing in straight sets. Destined for stardom, Federer had yet to blossom into the flowery game he exalts today. For the next three years however, Federer would bloom fast, overcome and eventually reign supreme mirroring the halcyon days of Sampras. After the Ancic defeat, and an Open Era record-breaking 45 consecutive grass court wins later, Federer awaited a stern test in the quarters in facing Super Mario, as he was endearingly dubbed back then by tennis fans. Their meeting in 2006 would see the London skyline as grey as England’s summers get. Indeed, as you may have guessed, the heavens would not look kindly upon Ancic that day. A seven minute rain delay could not halt Federer’s bristling surge towards a fourth consecutive Wimbledon title. Not even Ancic’s trademark firework tennis could throw the Suisse’s impeccable timing off for a nanosecond, let alone make a dent. Federer’s dreamy fairy-tale game was merely matched by the willpower that accrued from fulfilling his dream of claiming yet another Grand Slam trophy. The result? He completely expunged Ancic and all of his own Wimbledon glorified dreams with it. The deceiving ordinary triple 6-4 score-line concealed a brutal demoralizing beatdown. In four years time, from being Federer’s conqueror on grass, Ancic had been reduced to the Maestro’s slave, like the rest of the tennis world. After being clobbered to a pulp, seventh seed Ancic responded in his press conference with the same shrugging body language he displayed during the match, saying “He’s just Roger, what can you say?” Thinking it was criminal, worthy of ten years without parole, that the match wasn’t properly available on Youtube, I can finally present you an extra long highlight reel of that magical encounter. The greatest player of all time, in his prime, on his best surface, playing at his best! What more can you ask for?