By Richard Pagliaro | Tuesday, November 12, 2019
Roger Federer bounced back from an opening loss sweeping Matteo Berrettini 7-6(2), 6-3 to keep his semifinal hopes alive at the ATP Finals in London.
Photo credit: Julian Finney/Getty
A record 17-year run qualifying for the ATP Finals has taught Roger Federer how to cope with loss.
Child's play and survival skills.
Federer: Family, Schedule Prompted ATP Cup Withdrawal
Relying on a fierce first-serve, Federer defeated Matteo Berrettini 7-6(2), 6-3 to level his ATP Finals round-robin record and keep his semifinal hopes alive in London.
The six-time champion pumped eight aces and saved all three break points he faced in raising his record to 17-0 in second round-robin matches at the season-ending event. Federer, who owns a record 58 ATP Finals victories, will face five-time champion Novak Djokovic in his final round-robin match of Group Bjorn Borg play.
Shaking off his opening loss to Dominic Thiem on Sunday, Federer broke at love to start the second set and staved off all three break points holding for a 5-3 lead before breaking again to close in one hour, 18 minutes.
The Swiss was played more assertive tennis today, including soaring for a snazzy high backhand volley in the second set.
"It's unusual to lose and then come back and play again, but I did it last year so I have some experience," Federer told Annabel Croft afterward. "I'm very happy how I played today. Matteo was always going to be difficult with the big serve. If you don't get the read and you don't get the balls back the way you're hoping to you're going to be in trouble.
"He was doing a really nice job in the first set. I think the beginning of the second obviously was key to get that break. Then fend off those break points and get the win."
The 38-year-old father of four flushed his opening loss with fun and games. Federer said playing with his kids helped him focus on the positives from his first match and reset for the second.
"No reason to be too down on yourself," Federer said. "We came here to play three matches and give it all we had. I had a day off; plenty of ways to get rid of that loss just hanging with your kids will do that for me. So that's what we did and had a good time as a team and just got ready for today.
"Not try to think about it too much. Actually, just take the positives out of that match with Dominic. I thought not everything was bad. But of course if you over-analyze it, it all of a sudden can be. I was ready. I was prepared and that's what matters most right now."
The first set was a festival of first-strike tennis.
Both men imposed the serve-forehand combination to imposing effect. Federer fired his fourth ace holding at 15 for 4-3.
The last man to qualify for the tournament was not nearly as tight as he looked in his opening loss to Djokovic on Sunday. Berrettini flicked a bending forehand down the line leveling after 10 games.
Streaming through a love hold for 6-5, Federer immediately applied pressure in the 12th game.
Feeing some scoreboard pressure, Berrettini bashed a forehand into net to fall into a love-3 hole. Bolstering force with finesse, Berrettini spooned a forehand drop shot to draw even.
Forcing the net-rushing big man to bend low and fish out a tricky volley, Federer drew a bungled reply for set point. Berrettini snapped off a smash to save it navigating the toughest hold of the set to force the tie break.
The eighth seed sailed a diagonal forehand gifting the mini break and a 2-1 lead to Federer.
The man in black compounded the donation slashing a backhand down the line then firing an inside-out forehand extending to 4-1.
Scattering his first double fault wide put Berrettini down 5-2.
Snapping off an ace, Federer earned set point. The slider serve sealed the 42-minute opener.
Rallies were brief as both men controlled play on serve throughout the first set. Federer served 63 percent, fired 5 aces and won 18 of 21 first-serve points. Berrettini served 78 percent and denied the lone break point in the final game of the set.
The good news for Berrettini: His six games won were one more than he accrued in a 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 thrashing at Federer's hands in the Wimbledon round of 16 in July.
The bad news: Federer was swinging more freely, reading the Italian's serve a bit better and had never lost consecutive round-robin matches at the season-ending event.
Targeting the Rome-born baseliner's shakier backhand wing, Federer abruptly flipped the script playing the low slice to the Italian's forehand eliciting the error. Federer coaxed a netted backhand breaking at love to start the second set.
Any time Berrettini crept too close, Federer's serve provided separation. Slamming his seventh ace down the middle, Federer fired a forehand into the corner confirming the break at 30.
Seventy minutes into the match, Berrettini banged successive backhand passes to earn double break point.
Facing trouble on serve for the first time, Federer answered swatting successive first-serves to save them. The Swiss shanked a shot to face a third break point but a bullet first serve down the middle to deny it.
An arduous five-deuce game ended with Federer cracking an ace down the middle quelling the threat for 5-3. Sliding the low ball into the mid-court, Federer converted his second match point as Berrettini netted a slice forehand.
Landing his first serve routinely at crunch time helped Federer close.
"You have to take it to your opponent," Federer said. "So I tried to make the first serves, and then from then on stay aggressive but not just give away the break if that's what happened. I wanted to see Berrettini play a good point, a great point, actually, to get the point.
"And I felt against Thiem I just didn't do that. I was maybe a tiny bit too hectic still, and I misfired on the serve. Sometimes that's all it takes to make a difference."
Now, Federer may well need to defeat nemesis Djokovic, who saved two championship points edging the 20-time Grand Slam champion in the Wimbledon final, to make a semifinal return.
First, Djokovic will try to avenge his Roland Garros semifinal loss to Thiem in tonight's rematch.