Sunday, November 27, 2011

Federer Seeks His Sixth Year-End Title



London (11/27) - Defending champion Roger Federer reached his seventh final of ATP World Tour Finals, previously named as Tennis Masters Cup before it was changed in 2009. The fourth seed defeated 2007 runner-up David Ferrer of Spain 7-5, 6-3 in the semi-finals in O2 Arena, London.

In the final, Federer will face Jo-Wilfried Tsonga who already met him in the group stage. In the last four, Tsonga overcame Tomas Berdych 6-3, 7-5.

"It's obviously going to be a special occasion for me tomorrow, playing my 100th final, possibly winning my 70th, winning my sixth at the World Tour Finals," Federer said after stretching his current winning streak to 16.

"It will be quite funny to play Tsonga in the finals of Paris, on the first day here and the next Sunday again. He's very confident right now and he's going to be extremely dangerous," added Federer. Federer's 806th victory on tour, the same as his boyhood idol Stefan Edberg, will not go down as one of his classics.
Federer's 806th victory on tour, the same as his boyhood idol Stefan Edberg, will not go down as one of his classics.



He made 29 unforced errors and struck four winners from the back of the court, but his B game was still too good for world number five Ferrer who, for all his hustle and bustle, could not engineer a single break point in the 85 minute contest.

The only sticky moment for Federer was at 4-5 in the opening set when he was taken to five deuces but he upped the tempo in the next game, breaking Ferrer's serve to seize control.

"Obviously it was a key 5-4 game for me to hold and then break the next game, then actually break again early on in the second set," Federer, who will climb back to three in the ATP rankings above Murray, said.

"That was a crucial 15, 20 minutes for me. I'm happy I was able to decide the match right there."

If Federer wins tomorrow's match, he will pass Pete Sampras' and Ivan Lendl's record of winning five year-end championships. He already won the year-end championships in 2003, 2004, 206, 2007, and 2010.

Meanwhile, Tsonga said victory in Sunday's final would be even bigger than beating Federer at Wimbledon this year.

"It's going to be better because this is for a title," he said. "This tournament is the top eight players in the world. If I can join the great names on the trophy it will be amazing.

"It's going to be really special for my first final here. It's going to be an amazing atmosphere on the court.

"Roger is the best player for the moment indoors. But I think I can join him for one match."

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