RAGING ROGER TAKES A TUMBLE
Fed fury as Nishikori wins London opener
SundaY night crowds flocked to the O2 arena last night to see the evergreen Roger Federer, but they could easily have mistaken him for a grumpy old man.
Whether it was the umpire, the ballkids, the court speed or an opponent who abruptly lifted his game, the usual cool was lacking in the Swiss master who went down to a 7-6, 6-3 defeat at the hands of Kei nishikori in his opening match of the nitto aTP Finals.
There was even the rare occurrence of Federer being given a code violation after he angrily swatted a ball away with such ferocity that it nearly reached a hospitality box in the venue’s furthermost corner.
For once, the 37-year-old world no 3 can be grateful for the more forgiving group format of this event and he lives to fight another day.
He has lost his opening contest three times before in 15 appearances at this season- ending finale but, extraordinarily, has never been defeated in any roundrobin match in straight sets.
It was all perhaps a reminder that nothing lasts for ever, and he will need to lift his game to more familiar heights tomorrow when he meets dominic Thiem — who earlier lost to Kevin anderson — or this could turn out to be a short stay in the capital. Federer had already shown irritation with the feeding service of the ballkids before his violation for ball abuse and tetchy exchange with umpire damian Steiner. ‘I thought what was his argument, why the warning?’ said Federer, who, against type, walked straight off court to do his media duties. ‘He thought I was angry. I wasn’t, now I’m angry because I lost, but I wasn’t then. He knows me very well apparently, or he thought so.’
The court was not much to his liking either. ‘I think it plays definitely slower than the last three tournaments I’ve played, so I think everybody’s making a minor adjustment,’ he said.
‘I’ve been feeling fine, it’s just that practice has been a bit all over the place. Practised at Queen’s, practised on the outside courts here, then centre as well, so it’s not always the exact same conditions. We both struggled through the first set, you could tell it was a first round.’
It was true that both players struggled for much of the first set, and it looked like Federer was going to steal it when he got 6-5, 0-30 against the Japanese player’s serve. Without warning nishikori then upped his game, making several wonderful half-volleys that saw him jump from that position to 6- 1 up in the tiebreak, which he took 7-4.
Federer broke at the start of the second, but clashed again with Steiner as nishikori immediately levelled. The umpire refused a line call challenge on the basis that it was too late, with Federer saying he did not want to talk to him any more.
He unravelled thereafter to lose in 87 minutes, against a player he had formerly beaten seven times out of nine.
There are two more matches for Federer to turn it round, and organisers might hope so, given this sell-out.
This is the Swiss’s third tournament in four weeks. That used not to be a problem, but the years are advancing.
‘I used to play exactly this schedule for 15 years,’ he said. ‘This last part of the season, it’s just the clay has been less, I don’t see a major difference.’