February 4, 2001: Roger Federer wins maiden ATP title in Milan
Roger Federer had been one of the most promising players in the world in the early 2000s, a former junior Wimbledon champion and the year-end no. 1 player who made significant progress through the rankings in 2000. The Swiss reached his first ATP finals in Marseille and Basel that year, starting the season ranked 61st and ending it in the top-30, with eyes set upon bigger goals in 2001. After only a few minutes of watching him on the court, the one could have noticed his immense talent and skills, already developing a well-balanced game for every surface and standing as a dangerous opponent for everyone on grass or fast indoor surface.
The only thing that was missing was the ATP title and that was Roger's primary goal at the beginning of 2001 since he felt ready to step up his game and go all the way. Earlier, Federer started working with Pierre Paganini, pretty much the best fitness coach he could have got, and together with Peter Lundgren Roger built a great team around him, proving very soon it was the best possible move. Paganini managed to pair up Federer's outstanding talent with strength and stamina on the court, making him mentally even stronger, and the success was just around the corner.
After all the hard work he has been up to in December of 2000, Federer was ready to fight against world's leading players next season which started with the Hopman Cup crown with Martina Hingis. After that, Roger reached the quarter-final in Sydney and the third round in Melbourne, but February proved to be the month that he waited for so long! Roger came to Milan for his first indoor tournament of the season, ready to make the damage on super fast indoor carpet court (his previous two ATP finals were on an indoor surface as well).
Ranked 27th at that moment, the 19-year-old Swiss took down Rainer Schuettler 6-3, 6-4 to open the campaign, losing ten points on serve and breaking the German five times after winning more than half of the return points. Cyril Saulnier was his rival in the second round and a teenager found himself in trouble after the opening set before he raised the level to score a 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory that propelled him into the quarter-final. Both players scored four breaks (Roger had more chances, though) but it was Federer who delivered his in the crucial moments of the final two sets, advancing into his 14th ATP quarter-final.
There, Goran Ivanisevic awaited and Roger beat him 6-4, 6-4 in swift 57 minutes, keeping his second serve safe and breaking an amazing server once in every set to book his place in the last four. The world no. 7 Yevgeny Kafelnikov stood between Roger and the spot in the final and after an hour and 50 minutes the Swiss youngster defeated the Russian 6-2, 6-7, 6-3 for his fifth top-10 victory and the place in the third ATP final. Again, it was a very solid display from Roger who served well and kept the points on his racquet, saving five out of seven break points and stealing opponents serve five times from nine opportunities he created.
Julien Boutter was the last obstacle in Federer's quest for the maiden ATP crown and he managed to topple the Frenchman 6-4, 6-7, 6-4 in two hours and 20 minutes to lift his first trophy at the main level! As the result suggests, it was a close match but Federer was the one who controlled the most of it, winning more points behind the second serve and facing seven break points against 14 that Boutter had to play against. The Frenchman, who played in his first ATP final, did well to break Roger's serve five times, although he suffered seven breaks on the other side, losing 43% of the points behind his initial shot.
Federer broke in the third game of the match with a forehand winner, only to lose his serve in the very next game after wasting game points that could have pushed him 3-1 up. Julien repelled two break points in the fifth game and he scored another break a few minutes later to open a 4-2 lead when Federer netted an easy forehand. Nonetheless, Roger kept his coolness and he rattled off the next four games to take the opener 6-4, overcoming game points from Julien in game seven and securing another break at 4-4, sealing the set with a volley winner in game ten.
Players exchanged breaks in the third and fourth games of the second set and Julien scored another one in game eight with a return winner to move 5-3 up and serve for the set in the following game. Federer did well to prolong the set, breaking back and saving two set points in the tenth game to set up a tie break where he had a match point at 6-5 after a forehand winner. Boutter fends it off with a volley winner to steal the breaker 9-7 thanks to two winners, gathering the momentum before the decider, especially after the match point he saved.
It was interesting to see how Roger would react in the third set following a huge chance he wasted but that brings us to the beginning of the story, with the Swiss being prepared both physically and mentally for all the efforts required. He broke in the very first game of the decider when Boutter sprayed a forehand error and he would keep the advantage until the end, sealing the deal with a good attack in game ten to start the title celebration. This was the first big steps on Roger's path towards tennis immortality and he is in the hunt for his 100th ATP crown 18 years later, still capable of competing for the big titles almost two decades after the first success on the Tour.
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2D7GVFB
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