Who is Frédéric Niemeyer? Few people seemed to know this Canadian who, ranked 487 in the world, was expected to give Federer little challenge.  Federer hadn’t played since Wimbledon.  In the meanwhile, Mirka Vavrinec, Federer’s wife had given birth to twins.  Even were that not the case, Federer would probably not have played any of the tournaments until Montreal, which is known officially as the Rogers Cup.

Niemeyer shares a distinction with Safin and Santoro.  This is his last year on tour.  It’s hard to believe that a player you’ve never seen before isn’t 21 or 22 and slogging his way on tour, hard to believe that this guy has had numerous years on the tour, toiling away, never reaching anything approaching the dizzying heights of his opponent.

Niemeyer is Canadian, which is perhaps how he managed to get in the tournament at all.  He justified his wildcard by beating much higher ranked Igor Kunitsyn in the first round.  Niemeyer spent his formative years, more than ten years ago, at Middle Tennessee State University where he spent four years playing tennis before turning pro, perhaps being easily their best player.

Despite the number of years on tour, he’d only played Federer once, 11 years ago, in a match that Federer won.  He claims he knew Federer was going to be good, even back then.  So in a match in his home country, in the year he was going to retire, Niemeyer played the match of his life, going toe to toe with Federer, who looked a bit off, but had to contend with Niemeyer’s big groundstrokes.  As they played game after game, Niemeyer kept even, eventually forcing a tiebreak which eventually fell to an error.  The focus of a champion allows him to work his way to tough games, seeking the tiniest of opportunities, a tiny slip where he can take the edge.

Federer and Niemeyer played even early on before Federer eventually secured the break and the match.  Niemeyer may have lost early once again, but much like Santoro, his memory of one of his best matches ever might be a loss.  Although we hardly knew you, Mr. Niemeyer, another player that lost to Roger Federer, you held your own, in your country’s home tournament.  Cheers, mate, you done good.