Federer, Simon to battle for title
Print Edition
ROGER Federer brought world No. 1 Novak Djokovic’s juggernaut to a halt when a 6-4, 6-4 victory at the Shanghai Rolex Masters yesterday set up a final against unseeded Frenchman Gilles Simon.
The 33-year-old Swiss was in aggressive mood against his younger opponent, who was on a 28-match winning streak in China, and converted his third match point with a backhand volley to end a semifinal slugfest that lasted one hour 35 minutes.
Federer, who will return to second in the rankings on Monday, broke serve in the fifth game of the first set after a couple of unforced errors from the twice Shanghai Rolex Masters champion.
The 17-time grand slam winner broke again in the opening game of the second set and went on to exact sweet revenge for his defeat in their last meeting, at the Wimbledon final in July.
Federer’s best showing at the ATP Masters 1000 event was as runner up in 2010, although he did win in Shanghai when it hosted the Tennis Masters Cup in 2006 and 2007.
Earlier, Simon moved into his first Masters Series final in six years after outclassing big-serving Spaniard Feliciano Lopez.
The world No. 29 faced little pressure on his serve and dominated the match from the baseline with some sumptuous groundstrokes to beat the 33-year-old Lopez 6-2, 7-6 (1).
Lopez, who knocked out world No. 2 Rafael Nadal in the second round, netted a backhand volley to hand Simon the first break of the match in the third game and the tall Spaniard only had himself to blame as a double fault gifted a second break.
The frazzled world No. 21, under pressure from Simon’s winners, finally held to make it 5-2 but the Frenchman wrapped up the set in 25 minutes with an ace down the middle that swerved teasingly away from the left hander.
Lopez mixed up his tactics in the second set, opting to attack the net more to hustle his opponent, whose only previous Masters Series final appearance came in 2008 in Madrid, with some success.
The Spaniard came through seven deuces in the third game to avoid another break while Simon only dropped four points on his serve in the set.
The pressure finally told on Lopez in the tiebreak as he crumbled under a mix of double faults, netted returns and wild smashes to lose it 7-1.
“I really played what I had to,” said Simon, who will re-enter the top 20 after the semifinal win, and could rise as high as 15 if he clinches the title today.
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