Roger Federer avenged a tough loss to Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon final by beating the top-ranked Serb 6-4, 6-4 in the semi-finals of the Shanghai Masters yesterday.
The Swiss star relentlessly charged the net and volleyed with precision, winning 20 of his 35 forays.
He also served strongly, firing four aces in a row to win one game in the first set and fighting off the only break point he faced.
Photo: Reuters
Federer was almost out of the tournament in the opening round, saving five match points before beating Leonardo Mayer in a dramatic three-setter. Now he is into the final with a chance to win his first title in Shanghai — and fourth of the year — against Frenchman Gilles Simon today.
Simon powered past Feliciano Lopez yesterday to reach his first Masters final in six years and seal his return to the world top 20.
The world No. 29 won the semi-final 6-2, 7-6 (7/1) to set up a decider against 17-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer.
Simon has only contested one Masters final to date, when he lost to Andy Murray at Madrid in 2008, but he is in a rich vein of form after also reaching the last four in Tokyo last week.
The 29-year-old beat Australian Open champion Stanislas Wawrinka and then sixth seed Czech Tomas Berdych in the Shanghai quarter-finals after taking every game in the final set.
Yesterday, Simon picked up where he left off in the quarters, serving up a master class in aggressive play early on against Lopez of Spain.
The former world No. 6 broke Lopez’s serve in the third game, drilling a groundstroke directly at the 21st-ranked player as he moved forward, forcing him to parry the ball helplessly against the net.
He then broke at the next opportunity before marching to a 5-1 lead and taking the set.
Lopez opened the second set with an ace, signaling his intent to fight back at Simon’s attacking play.
However, he only mustered points in two of his opponent’s six service games, and had to save two break points midway through the set.
After forcing the tie-break, it turned out to be one-sided as Simon raced to a 4-0 lead helped by a topspin groundstroke which clipped the net before bouncing in.
Lopez replied with an ace, but moments later he set Simon up for match point when he miscued a routine smash. It was all the Frenchman needed to seal the match in 80 minutes.
“I really played what I had to,” Simon said.
“I was feeling really good from the baseline. I felt I almost didn’t lose one point from the baseline the whole match,” he added.
“It was difficult for him in the first part, then he was extra aggressive, I would say, hitting full power his first serve, second serve, coming to the net every time on his serve,” Simon said.
It was a crushing defeat for Lopez, who had also claimed heavyweight scalps on his way into the last four, beating 13th seed John Isner of the US and ailing compatriot Rafael Nadal, the second seed.
Simon will re-enter the top 20 following his semi-final win, and could rise as high as 15 if he clinches the title today.
TIANJIN OPEN
AP, TIANJIN, China
Belinda Bencic and Alison Riske are both to be vying for their first WTA tour title when they face each other in the inaugural Tianjin Open final today.
Both players eliminated Chinese opponents in the semi-finals on yesterday. Riske won the first nine games en route to a 6-0, 6-1 rout of Zheng Saisai, while Bencic advanced when hometown favorite Peng Shuai retired with a lower-back injury while trailing 3-1.
The 17-year-old Bencic will try to become the youngest champion on the WTA tour since Tamira Paszek of Austria won in Portoroz, Slovenia, in 2006 at the age of 15.
Riske’s best previous results were two semi-final appearances at Birmingham in 2010 and last year.
JAPAN WOMEN’S OPEN
AFP, OSAKA, Japan
Former US Open winner Samantha Stosur beat Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina yesterday to reach the Japan Women’s Open final as she seeks the first successful title defense of her career.
The top-seeded Australian downed third seed Svitolina 7-6 (8/6), 6-2 in Osaka to set up a final against Kazakhstan’s Zarina Diyas.
Stosur, 30, is attempting to win in Osaka for a third time after her triumphs in 2009 and last year, which have already made her the tournament’s most successful player.
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