ROGER FEDERER POWERS PAST ZVEREV IN ATP FINALS
Roger Federer is one step closer to winning his seventh ATP World Tour Finals after beating Alexander Zverev at London's O2 Arena here.
Federer moved Zverev around the court with drop shots and slices and flattened out his groundstrokes against the 20-year-old righthander, winning 7-6 (6), 5-7, 61 after two hours and 12 minutes.
"I think I was able to stay the course and use my slice quite effectively, then try with variation to go into his forehand," Federer said.
"I'm extremely happy... It's been a tough group so to be there in two matches is great," Federer said.
"But today was difficult. Still early days in the tournament. It was nice to be able to show maybe that quality of mine, that I can dig out these matches, these points time and time again, and stay mentally tough. In the third I started to play better. It was a tough match from the beginning till the end."
In the day's other match, eighth seed Sock upset fifth seed Marin Cilic of Croatia 57, 6-2, 7-6 (4) to move to 1-1 in Group Boris Becker. Sock also became the first American to win at the season finale since Andy Roddick 10 years ago today in Shanghai.
Cilic, who lost to Zverev in his first match, has been eliminated. Sock and Zverev will fight for the other berth to qualify from the group. Federer has now won 12 consecutive matches, dating back to his title runs at the Shanghai Masters and the Swiss Indoors Basel.
Meanwhile, Czech tennis star and two-time Davis Cup winner Radek Stepanek announced his retirement at a press conference. The 38year-old won a bronze medal in the mixed doubles at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.
With five ATP titles under belt, Stepanek won two Grand Slam doubles titles at the 2012 Australian Open and the 2013 US Open respectively, along with Indian player Leander Paes.
After playing his last match at the Australian Open in January, Stepanek underwent a lumbar spine surgery in the spring.
He said he wanted to continue his tennis career as long as possible, but his "body could not take it anymore."
The 36-year-old Swiss, who beat American Jack Sock in the group opener, thus guaranteed himself a place in the semi-finals for the 14th time in his 15th appearance at the ATP Finals.