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ROGER FEDERER

Federer scores decisive victory in London

Roger Federer started his bid for a seventh ATP Tour Finals title in record-breaking fashion as the Swiss great crushed Janko Tipsarevic 6-3, 6-1 at London's O2 Arena on Tuesday.

Published: 6 November 2012 21:31 CET
Federer scores decisive victory in London
Photo: Marianne Bevis

Federer's victory took him to 40 match wins in his 11 appearances at the prestigious season-ending event, breaking the previous record of 39 held by Ivan Lendl.

The 31-year-old already has a record six titles in this season-ending event after winning the tournament for the last two years and he looks in the mood to complete a hat-trick on the evidence of this emphatic Group B victory over the Serbian eighth seed in just one hour and eight minutes.

"I'm very happy I played so well because Janko's a great player," Federer said.

"I've had a great year but I hope it's not over yet.

"It's my third trip to London this year. The other two were pretty good and I hope something similar is going to happen this week."

Since winning Wimbledon for a 17th Grand Slam crown and returning to the top of the world rankings in July, Federer has endured something of a rough ride by his own sky-high standards.

He squandered a chance to win a gold medal in the Olympic singles after being thrashed by Andy Murray in the final and then suffered a shock loss in the US Open quarter-finals against Tomas Berdych.

Federer was also beaten by Juan Martin del Potro in the final of his hometown event in Basel last month and surrendered his number one ranking to Novak Djokovic as a result.

But whatever his struggles elsewhere, Federer has always thrived at this season finale and the world number two was quickly into his stride against Tipsarevic.

Tipsarevic had been suffering from a virus for several days leading up to the tournament and was forced to withdraw from his Paris Masters quarter-final last week due to exhaustion.

It was hardly ideal circumstances to face a fired-up Federer and the Swiss showed no mercy, breaking in the second game and racing into a 3-0 lead.
 

Federer had won all five of his previous meetings with Tipsarevic and, with the Serb having no impact on his opponent's serve, the first set was over in 30 minutes.

Tipsarevic staved off two break points in the third game of the second set, but Federer kept dictating play from the baseline and he finally induced a
miscued forehand from the Serb to break for a 2-1 lead.

Scenting blood, Federer delivered the killer blow with a blazing forehand for another break that ended any hopes of a Tipsarevic revival.
 
Argentina's Del Potro will play newly crowned Paris Masters champion David Ferrer in the other Group B tie later on Tuesday.

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ROGER FEDERER

Is this the end of the road for Swiss tennis legend Roger Federer?

Roger Federer is talking optimistically about returning to his "highest level" after knee surgery, but does tennis have to start adjusting to a future without the Swiss star?

Published: 11 June 2020 16:22 CEST
Is this the end of the road for Swiss tennis legend Roger Federer?
Is it the end of the line for Roger? Photo: Martin BUREAU / AFP

The 20-time Grand Slam winner announced on Wednesday that he would be sidelined until 2021 after his second operation in a matter of months.

Federer remains upbeat, tweeting: “I plan to take the necessary time to be 100 percent ready to play at my highest level.”

In some ways 2020 is a good season to miss after the coronavirus ravaged the tennis schedule. Writing Federer off in the past has proved dangerous.

He returned from a six-month injury lay-off to claim the Australian Open in 2017, winning his eighth Wimbledon crown later that year.

But he will be 40 in 2021 and is now heading into uncharted territory.

Despite his groaning trophy cabinet, there are two factors that will motivate Federer to keep going — the risk of losing his grip on the men's Grand Slam title record and a missing Olympics singles gold medal.

Rafael Nadal has 19 majors, just one shy of Federer's mark and Djokovic has 17.

Spain's Nadal will be fancied to draw level with Federer at the French Open, rescheduled for September, while few would bet against Djokovic winning in New York weeks earlier.

In April, Federer said he was “devastated” when Wimbledon was cancelled for the first time since World War II. Last year he fell agonisingly short at the All England Club, failing to convert two championship points on his own serve against Djokovic.

The Wimbledon grass probably remains his best chance of adding to his Grand Slam collection — he has not won the US Open since 2008 and his only title at Roland Garros came in 2009.

Even though Federer has slipped from the very pinnacle of the game, he is still a major threat to Nadal and Djokovic.

'Golden' ambitions

Last year, the world number four had a 53-10 win-loss record and he reached the semi-finals at the Australian Open in January in his only tournament this year.

Federer, who is still six ATP titles short of Jimmy Connors' all-time record of 109, has one glaring omission from his CV — the Olympic title.

The Swiss won doubles gold in Beijing in 2008 with compatriot Stan Wawrinka but lost in the singles final to Andy Murray in London four years later.

The postponed Tokyo Games will almost certainly be Federer's last opportunity to complete a career “golden” Grand Slam — he will turn 40 on the day of the closing ceremony next year.

Tennis will feel the loss of the elegant Federer keenly when he walks off the court for the last time.

Djokovic and Nadal have been the dominant forces in recent years but the Swiss remains the biggest draw and last month topped Forbes' list of the world's highest-earning athletes.

His last appearance on court was in front of nearly 52,000 fans — touted by organisers as a world record for tennis — at a charity match against Nadal in Cape Town in February.

Federer is nearly always the crowd favourite wherever he plays and has proved a perfect ambassador for the sport since he won his first Grand Slam title in 2003.

He certainly expects to be back and competitive next year.

“I will be missing my fans and the tour dearly but I will look forward to seeing everyone back on tour at the start of the 2021 season,” he tweeted.

The avalanche of support from his adoring fans showed they would miss him too, but they will have to get used to a time when he is gone for good.

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