Roger Federer has an overriding goal after his triumph at the Shanghai Rolex Masters – winning the ATP World Tour Finals in London.
The Maestro has a clear plan.After his triumph against Rafael Nadal in the final of the Masters in Shanghai, the ATP World Tour Finals are clearly in focus – and the victory in London.
During the final demonstration against the world number one from Spain, Federer’s wit and fitness became clear.There never seemed to be any doubt about Nadal’s fifth consecutive victory.The 36-year-old’s gruelling three-movement semi-final against Juan Martín del Potro was also surprisingly good:”I thought I might stumble a little bit against’ Rafa’ in the beginning, as it was really late with the semi-finals, but everything went well,” FedEx explained after the match.
After a week break, the Swiss player’s home tournament in Basel is scheduled for next week, before heading towards the Masters in Paris Bercy.Then there are the ATP World Tour Finals in London, which Federer paid special attention to,”I thought it would be very important to play all the time.Now I play when I feel ready and that’s me.London is now my priority and I want to win the finals,”admitted the record champion.Last year, Federer missed the unofficial tennis world championship due to the long injury break – after 14 consecutive participations.The Swiss player won the tournament of the top eight six times.
His toughest opponent in the O2 arena in London will be Shanghai final opponent Nadal.In addition to the two “oldies”, Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev have been joined by two youngsters to date.
The 36-year-old does not doubt that Federer still has enough grains in his tank for the finals:”It was an incredible season and I’m not overplayed.I still have energy,”Federer said confidently.
The spectators were able to see for themselves the self-confidence of the Swiss in the Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena.In the final, the “FedExpress” rolled like in the old days, leaving his opponent barely any room to breathe.The decisive factors for the clear victory were the serve and the consistency in the backhand.
Nadal paid his respects to Federer during the award ceremony in the People’s Republic:”He served very well and returned.If someone does the basic things better than you do, it’s always going to be difficult,”Nadal admitted after the 4-6 and 3-6 defeat.Federer, on the other hand, described his performance as “as good as it has been since Wimbledon”.
Despite the dominance against Nadal, Federer wrote down the possibility of ending the year as number one:”He plays very consistently and is too close to becoming number one at the end of the year.It’s a long way and I don’t think I can make it,”Federer explained.
The men’s world ranking list