Roger Federer blows away Rafael Nadal; qualifies for SF – Barclays ATP World Tour Finals 2011
It took a whole year for the Swiss maestro, Roger Federer, but he finally did it on Tuesday night, defeating the world number two, Rafael Nadal, in the second Round Robin matchup of Group B at the Barclays ATP (Association of Tennis
Professionals) World Tour Finals.
The fourth seed Federer took 61 minutes of play to dump the second seed Spaniard in straight sets, 6-3, 6-0, to confirm his berth in the semi-final round of the season grand finale at the O2 Arena in London. The Swiss broke Nadal’s
three-match winning streak against him to improve 9-17 in the head-to-head combats with the Spaniard.
Federer’s last victory over Nadal came on the similar venue in 2010, when he outplayed his arch rival in three sets to lift the ATP World Tour Finals trophy in London. The defending champion improved 5-3 against Nadal on hard courts
on Tuesday, earning a semi-final spot to carry on his voyage of bagging his sixth circuit ending title.
Federer appeared absolutely unplayable in the matchup, beating the second seed in every segment of the game to register his 61st victory of the current year in style. The Swiss served brilliantly in the game, backed
up by phenomenal baseline hitting and cashed in most of his opportunities in time to dispose of Nadal from the contest in a convincing fashion.
“It was a great match for me basically from start to finish,” said Federer. “I was able to do what I was hoping to do: dominate from the baseline, play close to the baseline, serve well, take his time away. I always knew I could
beat Rafa. The quicker the court, the more I favour myself. Maybe Rafa didn't play his very best tonight. But on an indoor court, it all happens very quickly as we saw at the end. For me it was an exciting match to play.”
Federer dropped merely four points on his 68 per cent precise first serve, clinching 23 out of 27 points, and converted four out of six break opportunities in the matchup to come out as the winner. Nadal utterly failed to craft
a single break point in the entire matchup and seemed a total mismatch for the fury of the Swiss maestro in the contest.
Up next for Federer in the Round Robin is the eighth seed, Mardy Fish of the United States. The American has lost both of his earlier Group B matches and has a minimal chance to make it through to the next round even if he beats
Federer on Thursday evening.
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