Federer beats Nadal to win Shanghai Masters
ROGER FEDERER extended his winning streak over Rafael Nadal this year to four matches after beating the top-ranked Spaniard 6-4, 6-3 to win the Shanghai Masters title yesterday.
The Swiss 19-time grand slam winner, who still trails Nadal 2315 in their overall head-to-head record, did not face a break point and started and ended the match with service breaks.
“I don’t know what my expectations were going in,” Federer said. “I thought I might struggle early on because it was a late finish last night.”
Despite his dominance in 2017, Federer does not rate his chances of catching Nadal in their headto-head record.
Federer took advantage of three of seven break point opportunities in the match to snap Nadal’s 16game winning streak, which included his China Open victory last week.
Federer, who has won the last five encounters between the pair dating back to the 2015 Basel final, also beat Nadal in the Australian Open final, a round-of16 match at Indian Wells and the Miami final this year.
The Shanghai Masters is Federer’s 94th career title, moving him into a tie with Ivan Lendl in second place on the Open-era list.
Nadal arrived on court with a bandage under his right knee, the same leg he twice smacked with his racket after losing his serve for the first time this week in the semi-final.
Federer said that he was surprised to see the wrap and did not feel that Nadal was struggling with his movement.
In his post-match press conference, Nadal elected not to discuss the knee injury, saying, “I don’t want to talk about that now, sorry, but after losing the final now is not the moment.”
When asked if he would play upcoming tournaments in Basel, Switzerland and Paris, Nadal refused to confirm his participation.
Federer took advantage of a third break point in the first game of the match with a winning backhand passing shot. He broke Nadal’s serve again on a second break point in the fifth game of the second set, when Nadal sailed a backhand crosscourt wide. In the final game, Nadal netted a forehand at 15-40 to end the 72minute match.