By Chris Oddo | Sunday, November 9, 2014
Roger Federer moved to the top of Group B in London with a straight-sets victory over Milos Raonic.
Photo Source: Clive Brunskill/Getty
Roger Federer was ready to face the best ATP World Tour Finals debutante Milos Raonic had to offer on Sunday. Federer kept his end of the bargain while Raonic wilted under the pressure, dropping the final ten points to fall to Federer 6-1, 7-6(0).
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Federer’s victory avenges a Paris loss to Raonic just over a week ago that saw the bomb-serving Canadian put a serious crimp in Federer’s plan to conquer the ATP’s year-end No. 1 ranking.
It also moves Federer to the top of the standings in the highly competitive Group B after the first day of round-robin matches.
Federer brought the pressure to Raonic from the onset, producing some incredible reflex plays to get Raonic’s first serves back in play, then blasting a backhand into the body of a net-rushing Raonic to earn three break points in the Canadian’s first service game of the day. He would break when Raonic sunk a backhand in the net, and never trail the rest of the set.
The six-time ATP World Tour Final champion would break again for 5-1 and seal the set with a hold to 15 in just 25 minutes.
But the second set brought a more confident and more determined Raonic. After erasing an early break point with a smash, Raonic would earn the next four break points of the set, the fourth of which was a set point, but a cool and calm Federer brushed them all aside with clinical serving and shotmaking to push the set to a tiebreaker.
Federer hit 24 winners against 14 unforced errors on the evening, and exploited his advantage at the net by tattooing several sparkling passing shots past the long-armed Canadian. Raonic only managed six of 17 net points, while Federer claimed seven of his ten forays to the twine.
In the second-set breaker, Raonic would lose his way quickly, as he hammered a forehand off the tape that lofted wide to give Federer the initial mini-break, then double-faulted to fall behind 4-0 before hitting a forehand error to fall behind 5-0 and three mini-breaks behind.
Federer would not give Raonic a chance to recover as he took the final two points to make it ten in a row down the stretch.
The victory puts Federer atop the Group B table in London, with a slight lead over Kei Nishikori:
Federer improves to 7-1 lifetime against Raonic, and 69-11 for 2014. In 13 career appearances at the World Tour Finals, Federer has amassed a record of 45-11. He has reached the semifinals 11 times, one short of the all-time record of 12, held by Ivan Lendl.
Notes, Numbers, Tweets
Federer has won the Barclays World Tour Finals a record six times in three different cities (Houston, Shanghai and London).
Federer improved his tour-leading indoor record to 248-61 with the victory.
Raonic managed 12 forehand winners on the day, against only ten for Federer.