Roger Federer qualifies for the ATP World Tour Finals
World No. 2 Roger Federer has booked his spot in the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals after his victory over big-serving American John Isner 7-6 (0), 7-6 (6), 7-5 in the 4th round of the US Open at Flushing Meadows.
With the win, the Swiss has reached a record 47th Grand Slam quarterfinal in his career. He is the third player to join the group of 8 who will fight for the title at the O2 arena in London, with Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray having already qualified for the tournament at the end of the year. He will now be contesting in the tournament for a record 14th time.
"It's a great feeling to be able to qualify so early," the official ATP Tour website quoted Federer as saying. "I can't believe it has been 14 years in a row and I look forward to returning to London in November. The atmosphere there is truly amazing."
Isner was on top form in the tournament, having held his serve on each occasion throughout the tournament – a run of 56 straight games – before Federer broke him in his final serve of the tournament to seal the victory. This also ended his marathon run of 108 consecutive service holds at the US Open, stretching back to last year’s championship.
Talking about the tie-breaker in the first set, where Federer beat Isner 7-0, which was also the first tim he lost a tiebreaker by such a scoreline in 430 tie-breakers, the former World No. 1 said, “Seven-love obviously is a pretty good score against John”.
Federer, who comes into this tournament on the back of a win at the Cincinnati masters tournament, beat World No. 1 Novak Djokovic at the finals of the US-based event.
The Swiss maestro has been the year-end champion a record 6 times, claiming the title back-to-back in 2003 and 2004, then again in 2006 and 2007, and finally 2010 and 2011.
Federer expecting a tough challenge from Gasquet
Federer next plays Frenchman Richard Gasquet in the pair’s quarter-final match, which will also serve as Federer’s 46th quarter final at a Grand Slam. The 12th seed Gasquet got the better of 6th seed Tomas Berdych 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-1 to seal a place in the quarters.
Gasquet, who has beaten Federer just twice in 16 attempts, admitted that he goes into the match as the underdog.
He said, "Of course, Roger will be the favourite of the match, but I will have nothing to lose."
Federer, on the other hand, expects a tougher contest from the Frenchman this time around.
“I really like the way he played in Wimbledon, and also now here. Now he's backing it up. I'm sure he gained confidence from Wimbledon. That's why I expect it to be tougher than maybe in previous years against him or previous times. I feel like this could be one of the tougher Gasquets I've played in previous years, so I expect it to be difficult,” the Swiss maestro confessed.