Roger Federer made a rare move during his quarterfinal match against Grigor Dimitrov at the US Open on Tuesday night.
Federer lost the fourth set of his match against Dimitrov 4-6 to send things to a deciding fifth set. Federer was sitting on the side of the court during the set break and requested the physio, who came out to speak with him. The two then walked into the locker room for some privacy off the court.
The medical timeout lasted about nine minutes. Federer tapped Dimitrov’s chair as he returned to the court, almost as an apology for taking so long. The fifth set then got underway with Federer serving.
According to ESPN’s announcers, the match represented just Federer’s third five-set match in the last year and a half. He had won the first and third set by 6-3 scores and lost the second and fourth 4-6. He quickly fell behind 0-4 in the fifth set and lost it 2-6.
The 38-year-old reached the semis of the French Open and blew a double-championship point at Wimbledon against Novak Djokovic in other majors this year. He lost in the fourth round at the Australian Open and the quarters at the US Open.
