PARIS — Stumbling on his way to the net, Roger Federer dropped his racket and fell to his knees on the red clay. Hardly the sort of grace and precision the world has come to expect from the 17-time Grand Slam champion.

There were other unusual sights in Federer’s 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (4) loss in the French Open quarterfinals Tuesday against his pal and Swiss Davis Cup teammate Stan Wawrinka.

“I made 30-something errors today. He, maybe, made one,” said Federer, exaggerating a bit.

Rarely injured and appearing in a 62nd consecutive major, Federer received treatment on his right hand from a trainer. According to the ATP, this was the first time since a fourth-round loss at the 2002 U.S. Open — back before he’d won a major trophy — that Federer failed to break an opponent’s serve once in a Grand Slam match.

Federer was defeated for only the third time in their 19 head-to-head matches, and for the first time in five meetings at Grand Slam tournaments.

“I tried many things,” Federer said.