LONDON: Roger Federer has kept his chances of winning a record seventh title at the ATP Finals alive after downing debutant Matteo Berrettini in straight sets.
Federer, who hasn’t won the season-ending event since 2011, held his nerve to oust the Italian 7-6(2), 6-3. Recording his second win over the world No.8 this season.
The victory was by no means a walk in the park for the 38-year-old, who was pushed to his limit during certain stages of the match. Nevertheless, he still managed to prevail with the help of 24 winners to 27 unforced errors. Converting all three of his break point oppotunities.
“I’m very happy with how I played,” Federer said during his on-court interview. “Matteo was always going to be difficult with the big serve. If you don’t get the read and the ball back in the way you want it to you’re going to be in trouble.”
After suffering a loss to Dominic Thiem on the opening day of the tournament, Federer’s clash with Berrettini was critical to his future presence in the event. Out of his 16 appearances in the ATP Finals, only once had he failed to win two matches in the round-robin stage. That was back in 2008 when Berrettini would have been just 12-years-old.
“There is no reason to be too down on yourself. We came here to play three matches and give it all we have.” The Swiss player explained. “It was a big goal of the season to come here and qualify.”
“There are plenty of ways to get rid of that loss. Just hanging out with your kids for me, so that’s what we did.”
Unlike their one-sided encounter at Wimbledon a couple of months ago, Federer faced tougher resistance from his Italian rival at The O2 Arena. Who didn’t make his top-10 debut until last month. The opening set consisted of both players matching each other game-by-game with no break point opportunities occurring until 35 minutes into the match. When the world No.3 has a chance to clinch the set 7-5, but failed to convert.
Eventually, the brick-wall resistance from the Italian subsided in the tiebreaker. A Berrettini forehand error rewarded the Swiss his first mini-break as he rapidly raced to a 4-1 lead. Finally, in control of the proceedings, Federer continued to capitalize on the mistakes from across the court, one of which rewarded him the 7-6 lead.
The breakthrough seemed to have flustered his younger rival, who started the second set with a nightmare service game that featured four consecutive unforced errors. Enabling the six-time champion to tighten his grip on the match to a set and a break lead. Continuing to weather the storm, Federer maneuvered himself to the win. Sealing victory on his second match point after a Berrettini drop shot backfired on him.
“He was doing really good in the first set. I think the beginning of the second was key.”
Federer’s presence in the semi-finals of the event now lies with the result of his upcoming showdown with Novak Djokovic on Thursday. It will be the 49th meeting between the two tennis giants with the Serbian leading their head-to-head 26-22. Their last match was in the Wimbledon final which Federer lost in the decisive tiebreaker after failing to convert two match points.
“He’s one of the greatest players ever to hold the racquet,” Djokovic said of Federer earlier this week.
“His ability to recover after big losses and, you know, cope with the pressure in tough moments on the court has been phenomenal over the years. I have tons of respect for him.”
Federer hasn’t lost to an Italian player on the tour since Andreas Seppi back at the 2015 Australian Open.
