The Earth continued rotating on its axis, though, as Federer saw off Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany, 6-3, 6-2, 6-7 (3), 6-1, giving him a 43-1 record (plus a walkover) here since 2003.
Only Karlovic-Tsonga could bring an odd duck of a match into a strange new world with faster French Open clay and slower Wimbledon grass.
As a sterling exhibit, the No. 25-ranked Fish plied the olden Wimbledon strategy against one of the princes of Planet Baseline, and wound up slightly flummoxed.
"Are you supposed to play it maybe like a U.S. Open-type court, you know, a faster hard court?" Fish said. "But it's almost slower than that. I'm trying to figure out exactly how you're supposed to play it, a guy like me."
A 27-year-old guy like him grew up watching serve-and-volley as the Wimbledon way -- "watching . . . Pete [Sampras] and like Goran, guys like Tim Henman" -- only to find an altered wonderland and reckon he'll need to hunt more balance.
Throw in the improved athletic prowess of the opponents and, Fish said, "You know, you can't get away with a mediocre first volley anymore."
Well, that is unless you're Karlovic on Friday, in which case you don't have to make the first volley.
As Federer put it in French, playing Karlovic is "not like a tennis match."
Now, there's a man who clearly knows tennis when doesn't see it.
--
chuck.culpepper@yahoo.com
