Roger Federer set another record beating Jo-Wilfred Tsonga to bring up his 6th ATP Tour Finals. This year has been tumultuous for him as he went without a Grand Slam victory for the first time since 2002. But the season ending has been way better for him as he has been on an unbeaten streak since the US Open winning at Basel and Paris before this win at London and finished with a 17-match winning spree.
Roger Federer wins his 6th ATP Tour Finals
Federer had previously lost in the Wimbledon quarter-finals to Tsonga where the latter overcame a two set deficit to beat the Swiss in what when down as one of the greatest upsets ever. Federer wouldn’t have any of that this time around as he closed out the match in three sets. His only jittery moment came when Tsonga saved a match point with a forehand winner and converted it into a set-point, leveling the match at one set apiece.
The third set saw Federer play a clinical game as he won the set 6-3 and hence the match to script another victory in his 100th career final. Bringing up his 70th career victory, he has the best conversion rate considering the number of title matches he has been in. Federer has been the best player in the tournament so far after beating his nemesis Rafael Nadal in straight sets in the group matches.
It was his best moment in a ragged year for him as he was written off by one and all considering the poor performances so far. Luck hasn’t been on his side for the Swiss Champion as he was on the receiving end of a few tough matches but he silenced his critics with a powerful season ending. He said that, “I know it’s one of my greatest accomplishments. This definitely is an amazing finish again to the season. I’ve never finished so strong”.
Post his US Open loss, he took a two-week break which worked to his strength as he was able to sort out all the differences and focus on the game which he loves the most. The capacity crowd at London including the likes of Pippa Middleton, Cristiano Ronaldo and London Mayor Boris Johnson, saw Federer go past Ivan Lendl and Pete Sampras who had won 5 titles each at the ATP Finals previously. “I still don’t feel like I’m better than Pete Sampras or Lendl for that matter. I still believe they are (two) of the all time greats to play the game. I’m just happy to be compared to them”, Federer said.
Federer reaffirmed himself as the best indoors player ever as even Tsonga admitted that he played really quick and well and may even be the best player ever. ‘Fedex’ still has a lot of tennis left in him and he is all set to put the heart-breaking 2011 aside when he starts afresh in 2012 to reassert him as the Champion player that he is.
Tags: ATP Tour Finals, Fedex, Jo-Wilfred Tsonga, Roger Federer, Tennis
