Roger Federer has returned to the ATP Finals in London. The Swiss defeated Dominic Thiem in two sets and rehabilitated himself for the opening defeat against Kei Nishikori.
By Jens Huiber from London
The Super GAU was in the air for the still most popular tennis player in the world, but at least until Thursday Roger Federer can still hope to make it to the semi-finals of the ATP Finals in London. The Swiss defeated Dominic Thiem 6:2 and 6:3. Federer will face Kevin Anderson in the third group match, who had left Kei Nishikori only one game in the first match on Tuesday.
Thiem also still has a small chance of getting ahead. To do this, however, the Austrian would have to defeat Nishikori as easily as Anderson. He, on the other hand, should not give up a set against Federer.
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For Federer, the two-sentence defeat is a premiere: Never before had the 20-time Major winner finished a match in the group phase of the ATP Finals without winning a set. In their second performances, Federer and Thiem had shown themselves to be perfect until the meeting on Tuesday evening: Federer with a record of 15 victories, Thiem of two.
Both players didn’t start at their highest level, especially Thiem made a lot of easy mistakes. In contrast to the opening match against Anderson, the Lower Austrian positioned himself closer to the baseline in the setback from the start, but the success of this measure failed to materialise. Federer took Thiem’s serve in the third and seventh games, but none of the service was perfect. But good enough to have won the first act after 32 minutes.
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The second set started again with a break for the Swiss, not to the undivided delight of the audience. Although the majority of them were in the camp of the six-time winner, they had hoped for a little more tennis at prime time. In the days of London, the Swiss player did not appear to be at the height of his creative power; Federer also appeared tense when playing with Borna Coric.
Thiem had warmed up with the German hitting partner Peter Torebko, leaving a relaxed impression. Not so in the last encounter of Tuesday. Longer rallies were hardly possible, Federer concentrated from the middle of the second set only on keeping his serve. After 67 minutes, however, it was the next break that gave the favourite the victory.