ATP Dubai: Roger Federer chases down history, caps week with title no. 100
Some 18 years ago, Roger Federer had won his first ATP title in Milan and he has passed a stellar tennis journey that made him one of the greatest players of all time. On Saturday, the Swiss has reached another incredible milestone in his unique career, defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 6-4 in an hour and nine minutes to win the eighth Dubai crown and become the second player in the Open era with 100 ATP titles after Jimmy Connors. The 37-year-old Swiss has claimed the 33rd ATP crown after turning 30 and he returns into the top-5 on Monday after spending a few weeks away from that group following an early Australian Open exit to Tsitsipas himself.
The Greek will make a top-10 debut on Monday although he stood no chance in this match, losing serve once in each set and not being able to create more damage in Roger's games, wasting both break points in the tenth game of the opening set that could have kept him in contention longer. Federer was super aggressive, taking the ball early and keeping the exchanges on his racquet with 24 winners and 15 unforced errors while Stefanos stood on an 18-20 ratio. We have seen eight good holds from the Greek but that wasn't enough for a more favorable result, losing the crucial points and missing the opportunity to win back-to-back titles after Marseille and celebrate that top-10 debut with the trophy in his hands.
Determined to win that 100th ATP title finally, Roger made a great start, breaking Stefanos at 15 in the very first game when the youngster sprayed a forehand error, settling into a nice rhythm and marching through his service games until 5-4 when he served for the set. Out of sudden, Tsitsipas found the zone on the return and he created those two break points that could have shifted the course of the match towards his side at least for a couple of minutes. Federer stayed focused, fending off both break points and securing the opener after a forehand error from Tsitsipas.
Nothing could separate them in the first eight games of the second set, with some solid hitting on both sides before Tsitsipas netted an easy forehand (that shot let him down completely) to send Federer 5-4 up, and allowing him to serve for the title. Three winners pushed the Swiss 40-0 and he sealed the deal when Stefanos netted a forehand, starting a massive celebration of what has been one of the most significant titles of his glorious career so far.
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2NCyW8o
No comments