Almost a day earlier, Rafael Nadal gave a gift to the rest of the field, in particular, to Roger Federer. He lost, shockingly, to Robin Soderling, the 24th seed, who had never beaten Nadal. Soderling complained, during the interview, that his 6-1, 6-0 loss to Nadal in Rome was actually much closer than the scores indicated, with break points and deuces, indications that he could hang with Nadal. Djokovic can sympathize.

Federer had to be counting his lucky stars. With his two major rivals out (Nadal and Djokovic), he has a winning record against everyone left. Davydenko also did him a favor by knocking out the dangerous Fernando Verdasco. Davydenko may himself be in trouble because Soderling actually has two wins against him on clay. And even if Davydenko finally makes his first Grand Slam final, Federer has a superior record against him. On his half, Federer has a great record against Roddick and del Potro, two major threats to the title. But first, Tommy Haas.

He hadn’t loss to Tommy Haas since 2002. Perhaps feeling the jitters of being the newly anointed favorite, or perhaps because Haas felt this was a once in a life time opportunity, Federer came out flat.

Unlike Soderling, Haas wasn’t even going for the lines. He was hitting with pace, for sure. Haas has one of the nicest backhands in the game, but it was his serve that was giving Roger fits. Roger shanked quite a few returns, unable to make an impression. It just seemed Roger was out of sorts, rather than Haas playing fantastic. Hass was playing mostly error-free, power tennis, but nothing too fancy, and it was enough to befuddle Federer who seemed bewildered.

When Roger lost an extended rally to Haas in the second set to give Haas the two sets to love lead, Roger looked done. His play wasn’t much better at the start of the third. Haas had a break point in the third. If he took that, he would have a 5-3 lead and serve for the match, and at this darkest of moments, it looked as if Fed’s golden opportunity would slip through his fingers.

But Roger played best when it counted. He kept hitting his shots. Federer hit a fantastic inside out shot for the winner to get the game to deuce and eventually dig himself out of what surely would have been a straight set win for Haas. Federer held to 4-all. Then gaining some inspiration, Federer broke Haas to lead 5-4 and held for the set. A glimmer of hope in what had been a dismal performance. Haas’s spirit had broken.

Federer then cruised against Haas who had to feel like his chance to beat Federer had evaporated. In twenty one minutes, Federer broke Haas three times and won 6-0. In the fifth set, Haas appeared to regain control and had Federer struggling, taking a 2-1 lead on serve. But then Federer broke once, and then once again, and although Haas fought gamely as Roger served for the match, Federer finally held serve and beat Haas and kept his French title hopes alive.

By making this five set comeback, the great Roger Federer escapes the fate that befell Nadal. Final score: 6-7(4), 5-7, 6-4, 6-0, 6-2.

Roger’s play, like it has been throughout the French has been spotty. He is not as sharp as he should be, but he continues to find ways to win, which is what Roger does best. By raising the level of his play before it got too late, Roger was able to turn the tables on Tommy who also faded, making errors he hadn’t in the early parts of the matches. Roger has sometimes played listless making his opponents look good, but Roger being Roger, often finds ways out of the holes he digs for himself. He’ll need to up the level of play if he wants to win, and he probably will improve his play, if history repeats itself.

UPDATE: Robredo has beaten Philipp Kohlschreiber in four sets: 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (4), 6-2. Not unexpected given their head-to-head. Third set tiebreak was key.

OF INTEREST: Roger Federer won every point on his serve in the first set, except in the tiebreak. 24 points on serve in 6 games. However, Haas won all his serves too.