Finally we had a really enjoyable afternoon match at the ATP Finals in London today.
Roger Federer who had already qualified for the semi-finals came up against Kei Nishikori who after being thrashed by Novak Djokovic in his 1st match made a vast improvement in his 3 set win over Tomas Berdych to get his first win
Roger raced into a 3-1 in the 1st set but was pegged back by Kei who broke twice in succession to take a 4-3 lead.. The Japanese player had a point on serve for 5-3 but Federer fought back and went on to take the set 7-5
It looked all over when The Swiss player went 4-1 up in the 2nd set but as he did in the 1st set Kei came roaring back, helped by a few spray shots from Rogers racquet. Nishikori won 5 games in a row too take the 2nd set including an awful volley attempt from Federer which I am sure will be turned into a GIF very soon!
All square at 1 set all it was Kei who had 0-40 on Roger's serve in the 3rd game of the set. However Federer came back to hold and then broke Nishikori and as he did in the 2nd set took a 4-1 lead. In a repeat of the 2nd set Kei would not give up and at times created some really special shots to level at 4-4. It was Federer though who stopped the rot and managed to pressure Kei's serve in the 10th game of the decider to break and win the match 7-5 4-6 6-4 to end Kei's tournament.
Roger therefore wins all his 3 round robin matches (each win worth $167k) and finishes top of his group and into Saturday's semi-finals. Roger looked good but also looked beatable today, though knowing he was already into the semi-finals may have made him less in the zone.
He already has a win over Novak Djokovic this week so can Roger go on and win the tournament for a 7th time?
Roger Federer who had already qualified for the semi-finals came up against Kei Nishikori who after being thrashed by Novak Djokovic in his 1st match made a vast improvement in his 3 set win over Tomas Berdych to get his first win
Roger raced into a 3-1 in the 1st set but was pegged back by Kei who broke twice in succession to take a 4-3 lead.. The Japanese player had a point on serve for 5-3 but Federer fought back and went on to take the set 7-5
It looked all over when The Swiss player went 4-1 up in the 2nd set but as he did in the 1st set Kei came roaring back, helped by a few spray shots from Rogers racquet. Nishikori won 5 games in a row too take the 2nd set including an awful volley attempt from Federer which I am sure will be turned into a GIF very soon!
All square at 1 set all it was Kei who had 0-40 on Roger's serve in the 3rd game of the set. However Federer came back to hold and then broke Nishikori and as he did in the 2nd set took a 4-1 lead. In a repeat of the 2nd set Kei would not give up and at times created some really special shots to level at 4-4. It was Federer though who stopped the rot and managed to pressure Kei's serve in the 10th game of the decider to break and win the match 7-5 4-6 6-4 to end Kei's tournament.
Roger therefore wins all his 3 round robin matches (each win worth $167k) and finishes top of his group and into Saturday's semi-finals. Roger looked good but also looked beatable today, though knowing he was already into the semi-finals may have made him less in the zone.
He already has a win over Novak Djokovic this week so can Roger go on and win the tournament for a 7th time?