Roger Federer: Tennis Great's Resurgence vs. Ferrero a Good Sign

Coming off a victory at the Madrid Open, Roger Federer continues to show he has plenty of life in those legs at the Rome Masters.

Federer is displaying the resilience and, more importantly, the stamina needed to propel himself through the upcoming French Open.

On Thursday in Rome, Federer beat Juan Carlos Ferrero in the third round of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome. But more important than his win was the way he did it.

Ferrero tested Federer on Thursday, battling to win the second set. Federer lost a lot of his sharpness in that second set, and you could hear the critics buzzing, "Federer has lost a step."

But Federer didn't slow down in the third set—he sped up. Federer ended up winning the third set in convincing fashion, 6-1, en route to a 6-2, 5-7, 6-1 victory.

That's not to say Federer won't have his share of troubles in longer matches like the French Open where you need to win three sets to advance, but he did play for one hour 47 minutes against a former world No. 1 on Thursday, and he bore down and exerted his dominance down the stretch.

Novak Djokovic hasn't been as dominant this year as in 2011 and neither has Rafael Nadal. This is Federer's chance to add to his string of Grand Slam singles titles. He's already gone on a 17-match winning streak this season.

Federer appeared to be slowing last year while Djokovic rose, but he's one of the all-time greats, and all-time greats find ways to win, even late in their careers.

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