 |
|
Roger Federer kisses the trophy
after winning the Shanghai Masters for the first time on Sunday
|
Roger Federer claimed one
of the few titles to have previously eluded him after he overcame a sluggish
start to beat injured Frenchman Gilles Simon in the final of the Shanghai
Masters on Sunday.
PA/Reuters report the Swiss 17-times grand
slam singles champion triumphed 7-6 (6) 7-6 (2) to register his 23rd Masters
Series title and first in China, where strong winds saw the roof on the Stadium
Court closed for the hard court final.
The 33-year-old let off a
huge roar and threw both fists into the air after a battling Simon could only
net a return to hand the Swiss a fourth title of the year and 81st of an unparalleled
career.
It had all begun so well
for the unseeded Frenchman, who broke a sloppy, error strewn Federer in the
opening game and comfortably held firm until he felt the pressure of serving
for the set at 5-4 and began to creak.
With his first serve and
accurate groundstrokes deserting him, Federer had two break points but wasted
the first with an alarmingly high 14th unforced error only for Simon to hand
him the game on the next point after netting a backhand.
A wobbling Simon fought
off two set points on his next service game after finding his range with his
first serve again to force a tiebreak with a booming ace as he refused to
buckle in search of his first Masters Series title.
The world number 29 then
had a set point of his own in the tiebreak but Federer came up with an
unreturnable first serve to snuff out the danger before producing a
near-perfect backhand winner down the line to take the breaker 8-6.
GROIN PROBLEM
Simon, who had knocked
out Australian Open winner Stan Wawrinka and sixth seed Tomas Berdych en route
to the final, took a medical time out for treatment on a suspected groin
problem at the end of the set and looked uncomfortable upon his return.
However, the Frenchman
fought on admirably, digging himself out of some early holes to hold his six
service games before threatening an unlikely break in the 11th game of the set.
Having struggled to make
an impact on the Federer serve throughout the set he fashioned two set points
out of nowhere, only to waste both with groundstroke errors as Federer held on.
The Swiss then stepped it
up in the breaker, firing some big serves and stunning winners to fashion four
championship points with Simon folding on the first.
 |
|
Confetti rains down as Federer
receives his trophy in front of a capacity crowd at the Qizhong Tennis Stadium
|
Federer, who will move
above Rafa Nadal into second spot in the world rankings when they are updated
on Monday, has now won seven of the nine different Masters Series events with
only the clay court Monte Carlo and Rome tournaments eluding him.
No comments:
Post a Comment