Roger Federer made sure he avenged his Wimbledon defeat as he won against Novak Djokovic and qualified to the last four of the ATP Finals.
Roger Federer made sure he avenged his Wimbledon defeat as he won against Novak Djokovic and qualified to the last four of the ATP Finals.
The Swiss won with a 6-4, 6-3 victory on Thursday after he started the tournament with a chastening straight-sets defeat to Dominic Thiem.
Djokovic's defeat will end his bid to overtake Rafael Nadal and finish as year-end number one.
At London’s O2 Arena, the six-time champion Federer looked he came to win and cranked up the pressure on Djokovic’s serve. He dropped just three points on his own serve in the first set.
The third-seeded Federer is making his 17th appearance at the ATP Finals and is into his 16th semi-final at the year-end event.
As for Djokovic, he needed to win the title to knock Nadal off the top spot, however, the Spaniard is guaranteed to finish the year as the top-ranked player for the fifth time, tying him with Federer, Djokovic and American Jimmy Connors.
“Great atmosphere, great opponent,” said Federer, who hit 23 winners and made just five unforced errors. “It was definitely incredibly special. I enjoyed it from the beginning.
“I played incredibly and I knew I had to because that’s what Novak does. It was definitely magical.”
Speaking about what was the difference between the Wimbledon final and this match, he said: “I won match point I guess.
“It was so close to Wimbledon. It was a privilege to play that match, so many ups and downs. I couldn’t be happier right now.”
Federer finishes second in Group Bjorn Borg, behind Thiem - who also beat Djokovic earlier this week. The Swiss will face the Group Andre Agassi winner on Saturday.
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