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"I've had an extraordinary week," he said. "I went through the quallies with a bit of luck. Then I played my best tennis. I played three great matches. The icing on the cake was to play here with Roger."
Third-seeded Federer said the whipping wind was a factor in his match, but gave most of the credit for his troubles to his opponent.
"He's got great potential in terms of his touch and the way he reads the game," Federer said. "I thought it was an interesting match."
Hours later, Stephens fell 7-5, 6-4 to U.S. Open champion Sam Stosur, but she, too, was talking about successes not failures. It was the unseeded 19-year-old's deepest run in a major, the capper of a spring in which she has climbed to 70th in the rankings.
"People play well with confidence, and when you're having fun and you're doing the right things, everything's all good," Stephens said. "So even though I lost today, I played pretty well."
Stephens conceded it was strange playing in front of nearly empty stands. It was equally empty at the match between Juan Martin del Potro and Tomas Berdych, whose match was suspended by darkness with del Potro up two sets to one.
By then, the fans -- pretty much all of them -- were waving their flags, cheering on Tsonga, who slept on a 4-2 lead in the fifth set after play was called Sunday night. After Wawrinka held serve to make it 4-2, he walked directly to the umpire's chair and play was halted a few minutes past 9:30 p.m. The fans hooted and whistled, not wanting it to end.
Others, most notably Djokovic on this day, were simply glad they got through it.
"It's one of those days where nothing is working," he said. "I couldn't get into the rhythm. I was fighting, though, and I think because of the fight, I won the match."
[Associated Press;
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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