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ROGER FEDERER

Federer gains revenge over Canada’s Raonic

Switzerland’s Roger Federer won revenge over Milos Raonic on Sunday by beating the Canadian in two sets at the ATP World Tour Finals tennis tournament in London.

Published: 9 November 2014 23:05 CET

Federer gains revenge over Canada's Raonic

Federer: beats Raonic. Photo: AFP

Federer, ranked second in the world, prevailed against eighth-ranked Raonic 6-1, 7-6.

After easing through the first set, the Swiss star struggled in the second set before decisively winning a tie-breaker 7-0 to win the second.

The hard-serving Raonic knocked Federer out of the quarterfinals of the Paris Masters last week.

"I was very happy with how I performed," Federer said.

"The second set was much tougher," he acknowledged.

"I don't think he played a great breaker but it was a great one to win," Federer said.

"It's a small relief," he added.

"We have a tough group here so it's always going to be hard advancing but it brings me a step closer."

At 33, Federer has been in age-defying form this year and he arrived as the oldest player to qualify for the tournament in his record 13th consecutive appearance.

Federer is set to become the oldest player to finish a season in the world's top two and still has a slim chance of becoming the oldest player to end the season as world number one if he overhauls Serbian Novak Djokovic in the race for top spot.

The Basel native next faces Japan’s Kei Nishikori who eliminated Scotsman Andy Murray 6-4, 6-4 in Group B.

Federer last won the prestigious season-ending event at London's O2 Arena in 2011.

On Monday, fellow Swiss and Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka plays Tomas Berdych from the Czech Republic, while defending champion Djokovic faces US Open winner Marin Cilic, from Croatia.

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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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