An unexpected loss is easier to understand once you connect the statistical dots. David Goffin stunned Roger Federer 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 to move through to the final of the Nitto ATP Finals at The O2 after starting slow, but running all over the six-time champion at the finish line. The opening set was all Federer, and then the pendulum swung towards the Belgian as he broke for a 2-0 lead in the second set, and then again for a 2-1 lead at the beginning of the third. Set one looked nothing like sets two and three as Federer went from dictating points with authority to spraying loose balls with dismay. In the first set, Federer laid down the law. He...
There is little doubt as to who the two best doubles teams on the ATP World Tour have been this season. So it is only fitting that the top two seeds at the Nitto ATP Finals will battle for the title at the season finale. After a tight opening set, Henri Kontinen and John Peers used the momentum they gained from blitzing Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares in a tie-break to steamroll into their second consecutive final at The O2, defeating the fourth seeds in the semi-finals, 7-6(2), 6-2, in 78 minutes. The defending champions will get a crack at winning the title at The O2 once again on Sunday against top-seeded Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo, who will finish...
Rising Chinese star Wu Yibing is savouring the moment after hitting with the best players in the world, including Roger Federer, at the Nitto ATP Finals.
It might not be the finish that he had hoped for, but Roger Federer is taking nothing for granted in his historic comeback season. Federer’s 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 loss to David Goffin in the semi-finals of the Nitto ATP Finals might have come as a surprise, but not given the level of play that the seventh-seeded Belgian managed to produce after dropping the first set. Maneuvering Federer around the court with his signature brand of pinpoint counterpunching tennis, Goffin claimed one of the biggest wins of his career just days after defeating World No.1 Rafael Nadal, becoming the sixth player in history to defeat both Federer and Nadal at the same tournament. “I think it was a tough game to...
