French Open 2021: Serena Williams, Roger Federer arrived with doubts, leave with Wimbledon hopes

There are couple of parallels between two of the best players that tennis has ever seen in Serena Williams and Roger Federer. Both are 39-years-old (or young). Both have the most Grand Slam titles among active players (joint-most in Federer’s case). Both, incidentally, came into the French Open with 362 wins at majors. Both had spent little time on court in preparation for Roland Garros. Both were chasing a pivotal record milestone on the red clay. Both played spirited, battling tennis to reach the fourth round. And on Sunday, both went out, albeit in different manners, but with a positive lookahead to Wimbledon. In the fourth round, Williams’ latest bid to win a 24th Grand Slam title was halted by Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina in straight sets. Hours earlier, Federer withdrew from the tournament to protect his body for Wimbledon. To recap their storied careers: Williams has not won a French Open title since 2015 and a Slam since 2017. Federer has one title in Paris, in 2009, and his last major success was in 2018. “It was definitely close. I’m so close. There is literally a point here, a point there, that could change the whole course of the match,” said Williams. “I’m not winning those points. That like literally could just change everything.” The American came into the tournament with one win and two defeats in the warm-up events in Rome and Parma. She then found her rhythm, momentum and voice to go past Irina-Camelia Begu , Mihaela Buzarnescu and Danielle Collins . Against Collins, Serena trailed 1-4 in the second set before reeling off five straight games. Not bad returns overall for a player who a couple of weeks ago resorted to playing a Challenger to get matches under her belt. The wins in the three rounds were coupled with mayhem elsewhere as injured Simona Halep opted to skip the tournament and Naomi Osaka , Ashleigh Barty exited early . “I’m in a much better place than when I got here,” Williams said. “You know, (I was) just literally trying to win a match, because it had been a really difficult season for me on the clay.” With the 3-6, 5-7 defeat to Rybakina, she has not gone beyond the fourth round at Roland Garros since losing the 2016 final. But what became clear in the three matches is the desire. The will to win, to compete, to vie for titles is still there. And it goes to Wimbledon now - a surface that is more favourable. “I’m kind of excited to switch surfaces, but historically I have done pretty well on grass,” said Williams, who has been a seven-time Wimbledon champion. Is it au revoir? Serena opted not to answer that question. “I’m definitely not thinking about it at all,” she said. “I’m definitely thinking just about other things but not about that.” Federer withdraws, eye on Wimbledon It may not be the end of road for Serena in Paris but it does seem extremely likely for Federer. He’s opted against playing on clay in four of the last five years. This time, he planned on using it as a launchpad to get competitive matches under his belt before moving to the target - Wimbledon . After two knee surgeries which resulted in the Swiss remaining out for 18 months, the decision to withdraw didn’t come as a surprise. A night prior, he had battled over three and a half hours - until 12.45 am Sunday morning - to reach the last-16. In the post-match press conference, he acknowledged pulling out now was in the plans .

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— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) June 6, 2021

“After two knee surgeries and over a year of rehabilitation it’s important that I listen to my body and make sure I don’t push myself too quickly on my road to recovery. “I am thrilled to have gotten three matches under my belt. There is no greater feeling than being back on court.” In those three matches, he, like Serena, highlighted how they got to win so many titles, and even at 39, it hasn’t gone away. He faced no challenge from Denis Istomin in the first round ; had a dramatic win over Marin Cilic in the second and battled well into the night, in the absence of fans, against Koepfer in the third . By pulling out from facing Matteo Berrettini, and a potential quarter-final against Novak Djokovic, Federer gave a walkover for the first time. A first walkover at a Grand Slam in his 80th major appearance! If that doesn’t tell you about the will to win, to keep on competing, little else might. Coming into the second Slam of the season, Federer, like Serena, had one win and two defeats except only one of those matches came on clay. Away from the hustle of Rome, Federer decided to play in Geneva and was beaten by Spain's Pablo Andujar . In the scheme of things, the returns are far greater than what was expected and there is reason to consider this Paris run a success for Federer and his team. After beating Koepfer, Federer said he was pacing himself in his recovery. “All the matches I’ve played since the injury are information for the rest of the season,” he added. “It gives me great pleasure to be able to play 3hr 30min at a high level against a very good player. It shows that I’m on the right track.” Up next is Wimbledon. Chasing a ninth title on grass, Federer is scheduled to play the warm-up tournament in Halle beginning  14 June, the day after the French Open ends. Thus, their quest for No 24 and No 21 continues with Wimbledon and the odds are certainly more favourable now than they were in May.