Federer books place in final
Swiss number one Roger Federer has fought back from being a set down to clinch a place in the final of the ATP tennis tournament in Rotterdam.
Continuing his phenomenal start to the new season, Federer beat Romania’s Andreï Pavel 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 6-0 in the semi-finals on Saturday.
After losing the first set tie-break, Federer came out looking more determined at the start of the second set. With the scores level at 4-4, he made the breakthrough – winning the next two games without dropping a point.
The deciding set saw Federer hand Pavel a lesson in playing tennis. The 23-minute demonstration ended with the Swiss winning his final service game to love.
In Sunday’s final, Federer will now meet France’s Nicolas Escudé (ATP 60), a player against whom he holds a 2-1 advantage in previous head-to-head meetings. The Frenchman’s last win over Federer came in 1999 at the Segovia hardcourt tournament in Spain. The Swiss player subsequently beat Escudé at last season’s Lyon tournament and at the Australian Open earlier this year.
Regardless of how things go in the final, Federer will be able to look back on an amazing few weeks which have seen him fulfilling his promise as one of the most talented young indoor tennis players.
Beginning the season with a quarter-final appearance at the Sydney Open, Federer has since won his first ATP title in Milan as well as reaching the semi-finals in Marseille.
He also managed to almost single-handedly overwhelm the United States Davis Cup team during Switzerland’s 3-2 triumph in the tournament’s first round earlier this month.
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