PARIS — Switzerland’s Roger Federer knows full well, of course, that Spain’s Rafael Nadal is no longer around this year to befuddle him, to beat him, to stand between him and a French Open title.
Federer insists he is not thinking about that, not thinking ahead.
Still, Federer sure did play as if preoccupied for the better part of two hours Monday, dropping the first two sets of his fourth-round match against 63rd-ranked Tommy Haas of Germany.
One point from letting Haas serve for the victory, Federer conjured up one particularly spectacular forehand that managed to change the entire flow of things. That shot spurred a run of nine consecutive games for Federer, sending him to a 6-7 (4), 5-7, 6-4, 6-0, 6-2 victory over Haas and a berth in the quarter-finals at Roland Garros.
“I knew I was going to look back on that shot. That saved me,” Federer said. “I was in quite some danger.”
But he escaped. With two more victories, Federer will reach a fourth consecutive final at the French Open, the only Grand Slam championship he hasn’t won.
Federer lost to Nadal in each of the past three finals and in the 2005 semifinals, but the Spaniard’s 31-match win streak at the clay-court major tournament ended Sunday against Swede Robin Soderling.
“You’re aware of it,” Federer said. “Definitely changes it up, if I were to make the final.
“But we’re not there yet, so honestly it hasn’t changed a whole lot for me.”
Federer now tries to reach the semifinals at a 20th Grand Slam event in a row, which would extend his own record, when he meets 11th-seeded Gael Monfils of France, a 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 winner over No. 6 Andy Roddick, the last American man in the tournament.
Federer is 4-0 against Monfils, including a victory in the French Open semifinals a year ago. Monfils dominated Roddick — firing 17 aces compared to just four for the American — and Roddick began complaining in the second set that it was too dark to see.