Federer Sets Record, Beating Tsonga for ATP Year-end Masters Win
When he failed to serve out the set in the second, Federer fans squirmed uncomfortably in their seats at the O2 arena and around the world, but Roger Federer in the end defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-3 in the final of the ATP year-end Masters event on Sunday, earning a record sixth Masters title.
“It feels very special, indeed,” said Federer, who finished the year with a 17-match winning streak. “I’ve been trying to sort of block it out for the entire tournament, the entire time I’ve been here in London. I just tried to recuperate from Basel and Paris and hopefully get through the round robin stages. So now it’s finally sort of reality that I’ve been able to win six World Tour Finals. It’s an amazing feeling. I know it’s one of my greatest accomplishments.”
The 30-year-old Federer won his 70th career title in his 100th final, and became the oldest Masters winner, failing to drop a match all week.
Federer also beat Tsonga in the round robin portion of the event, and a week before the event in the final of the Paris Masters.
“This definitely is an amazing finish again to the season,” Federer said. “I’ve never finished so strong.”
Federer served for the title at 5-4 but quickly fell to love-40 before dropping serve. The Swiss then took a 5-2 lead in the tiebreak, and had a match point at 6-5 before Tsonga stormed back to take the set. In the third set Federer broke for 5-3 and served out the match at love.
“I thought I played well,” Federer said. “Look, I thought Jo played well. Could I have won it easier? I guess. I had it in my hands. I had a chance to go a double break in the second. I had chances to serve it out. I had chances in the tiebreaker. Yeah, it wasn’t meant to be. I had to go through the third set, which was tough, but eventually I made it, which felt probably even better going through three sets. The relief was amazing. The joy, of course, as you can imagine, was great.”
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