ATP Finals Flashback: Roger Federer thumps David Ferrer to defend the title

In his last dominant season on the Tour, Roger Federer claimed eight ATP titles in 2007, including three Majors and two Masters 1000 crowns. The Swiss wrapped up the year with the fourth Masters Cup trophy in the last five years thanks to a dominant 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 triumph against David Ferrer in an hour and 39 minutes on November 18, becoming the fourth player with that many titles at this event. Roger lost the opening round-robin clash against Fernando Gonzalez 3-6, 7-6, 7-5, raising his level in the next four encounters and dropping just 25 games in nine sets to secure the title and finish the season in the best possible way. In the second match, Federer overpowered Nikolay Davydenko 6-4, 6-3 to get back on the winning track, saving the best for the last round-robin clash where he ousted Andy Roddick 6-4, 6-2 in an hour after facing no break points.

Roger's campaign in Shanghai looked better and better after a dominant 6-4, 6-1 win over world no. 2 Rafael Nadal in 59 minutes, outplaying the Spaniard in every department to reach his fifth straight Masters Cup final as the first player since Ivan Lendl. David Ferrer stood no chance against the mighty Swiss, allowing Federer to lift the 53rd ATP title in what was the last best-of-five Masters Cup final. Ferrer competed in his ninth ATP final and the first on an indoor surface, beating Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Richard Gasquet to top the round-robin stage before a commanding victory over Andy Roddick that propelled him into the title match. There, he suffered the eighth straight loss against Roger (Federer had beaten him on clay Masters twice that spring) after failing to convert any of four break chances, suffering six breaks from nine opportunities offered to Roger, who stole almost half of the points on the return!

Roger Federer claimed the fourth Masters Cup crown in 2007, beating David Ferrer.

As was expected, Federer had the upper hand on an indoor court, firing 30 winners and reducing Ferrer to only ten to forge a massive advantage. They made a similar number of unforced errors, and the Swiss forced more mistakes from his rival to control the scoreboard and bring the encounter home in dominant style. Federer had a clear lead in the shortest points up to four strokes and the mid-range rallies, finishing with 31 points more on his tally and demonstrating his supremacy. Ferrer created a break chance in the second game, but Roger saved it with a sharp volley winner to avoid an early setback. The first break came in the third game when David netted a forehand to suffer a break at love, with Roger firing three winners in the next one to open a 3-1 gap. There was only one player on the court in those moments, and Federer broke again in game five after a double fault from the Spaniard, firing four winners to move 5-1 ahead and taking 18 of the last 19 points!

Three service winners at 5-2 delivered the first set for the Swiss after 25 minutes, and there was a more intense battle waiting in the second set, with six good holds on both sides. Serving at 3-3, David sprayed a forehand error to suffer a break, and Roger cemented the lead with three unreturned serves in the game that followed to move 5-3 up. The Spaniard's shots were all over the place, getting broken once again in game nine when the Swiss converted the fourth set point after his opponent's forehand mistake, sailing towards the finish line and the trophy.

Federer fended off three break chances at the beginning of the third set and broke in the fourth game after a stellar defense and a running forehand that forced Ferrer's mistake. Another perfect serve&volley combo pushed Federer 4-1 ahead, moving a game away from the victory when his forehand found an empty spot in game seven, forcing David to serve for staying in the match. From 40-15 down in that eighth game, Roger claimed four points in a row to emerge at the top, blasting a forehand crosscourt winner to celebrate his fourth Masters Cup title in five years and join the most dominant players in the history of this event at 26.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/3qbRMpS