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Lot Essay
"I'm definitely on a great roll at the moment. I'll just try to keep it up, stay healthy and keep enjoying it, because that's what I'm doing, and I think that's what makes me play well.” (Roger Federer, BBC Sport, 2006)
Even by Roger's incredible standards, the 2006 season stands out as one of his greatest campaigns. He played a total of 97 matches, winning 92 and reached every Grand Slam final along the way. After picking up another victory in Doha in January without dropping a set, Roger's quest to add to his Grand Slam total began later in the month, in Melbourne. Having lost to Marat Safin at the semi-final stage the preceding year, Roger looked like a man on a mission when taking to the court in the Rod Laver Arena.
So serene was his progress through the opening stages that it came as a shock when the German, Tommy Haas, came from two sets to love down to force a decider in the fourth round. Roger upped his game and came through the challenge with aplomb, winning the fifth 6-2. Victories against Nikolay Davydenko and Nicolas Kiefer in the quarter-final and semi-final followed, with Roger setting up a final against the unfancied Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis.
Experts who were predicting a swift capitulation from Roger's opponent were surprised when Baghdatis not only took the first set, but then broke his opponent for a 2-0 lead in the second. It required a famous Roger fightback to claim the crucial second set, before he won 11 straight games to complete a four set victory and claim his seventh Grand Slam title.
Even by Roger's incredible standards, the 2006 season stands out as one of his greatest campaigns. He played a total of 97 matches, winning 92 and reached every Grand Slam final along the way. After picking up another victory in Doha in January without dropping a set, Roger's quest to add to his Grand Slam total began later in the month, in Melbourne. Having lost to Marat Safin at the semi-final stage the preceding year, Roger looked like a man on a mission when taking to the court in the Rod Laver Arena.
So serene was his progress through the opening stages that it came as a shock when the German, Tommy Haas, came from two sets to love down to force a decider in the fourth round. Roger upped his game and came through the challenge with aplomb, winning the fifth 6-2. Victories against Nikolay Davydenko and Nicolas Kiefer in the quarter-final and semi-final followed, with Roger setting up a final against the unfancied Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis.
Experts who were predicting a swift capitulation from Roger's opponent were surprised when Baghdatis not only took the first set, but then broke his opponent for a 2-0 lead in the second. It required a famous Roger fightback to claim the crucial second set, before he won 11 straight games to complete a four set victory and claim his seventh Grand Slam title.