Firm favorite and 6-time former champion Roger Federer will square-off against David Goffin of Belgium in the semifinals of the ATP World Tour Finals on Saturday. Will the great man from Switzerland succeed in stretching his winning streak to 14 matches during the afternoon in London?
World No. 2 Roger Federer has been in phenomenal form ever since he made his return to action at the start of the year after a six-month injury layoff. In fact, it would not be an overstatement to say that 2017 has been by far his greatest season since 2006.
Not only the maestro has won two Grand Slam titles, including the Australian Open, a record 8th Wimbledon, and three Masters events in Indian Wells, Miami and Shanghai, but has also beaten arch-nemesis Rafael Nadal 4-times in a row without suffering even a single loss at the hands of the Spaniard – a record he had never accomplished before in his career.
The 36-year-old’s imperious run has continued at ATP’s year-end championships as he has maintained a clean-sheet by beating the likes of Jack Sock, Alexander Zverev and Marin Cilic to advance into the semifinals of the event. He was the overwhelming favorite to win a record seventh title in London even before the start of the competition and after the ousters of Nadal, Zverev, Cilic and Thiem the odds have increased further.
Federer’s record against the remaining three players in the tourney is incredibly one-sided. He is 6-0 against Goffin, 6-0 against Dimitrov and 4-0 against Sock. Moreover, he has lost a combined four sets in those 16 matches – two each against the Bulgarian and the Belgian. The reality of the situation is that barring Dimitrov, nobody has the firepower to even compete against him, especially when he is in the zone.
Looking to stop his undefeated run will be Goffin on Saturday. Goffin, himself, has worked really hard to reach his maiden ATP Finals semis. He was simply brilliant in his final match in London as he dismissed Thiem 6-4, 6-1 in only 72 minutes on Friday. With a Davis Cup final looming large on his head, he could have easily made the tournament his second priority but hasn’t done that. In fact, he has been quite vocal about his dream of winning the showpiece event at the O2.
Head-to-head: Notwithstanding, his poor record against the Swiss legend that is completely stacked against him with Roger holding a 6-0 advantage, Goffin has promised to put up a far better show than what he displayed in the pair’s last meeting in Basel where Federer won 6-1, 6-2 in exactly an hour.
Speaking to the media on the eve of the match, Goffin spoke about his difficulties against Federer. He said: “I’ve never found a key to beat Roger. Honestly, I don’t know what to do tomorrow. But I’m going to try something, something different, something that I’ve never done in the past. I will try to do my best to play a better match than in Basel”.
“I have nothing to lose… He’s playing so well”, he added.