Even though he was again far from his best, Roger Federer still managed to win at the French Open.
The 2009 champion at Roland Garros was pushed to four sets on Friday for the second straight match, this time beating Nicolas Mahut of France 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 in the third round.
“I think for bigger guys it’s about, if you’re able to move them around enough and they have to defend time and time again, this is maybe where you can expose some of their weaknesses potentially,” Federer said. “I thought he did well. (I) struggled a little bit, but overall obviously I’m happy I came through.”
Federer, who is trying to become the first man over 30 years old to win a major title since Andre Agassi in 2003 at the Australian Open, improved his record number of Grand Slam match wins to 235.
For Mahut, it was the first time he has ever won a set against Federer in four matches.
“I believed in it. I was maybe a bit nervous going into that centre court, but this went well,” Mahut said. “But I’m disappointed, because you always want to do better. Disappointed I didn’t win that fourth set.”
