Federer in pullout of ATP clash
ROGER Federer has dropped out of the ATP Cup in January, meaning there will be no showdown with Andy Murray.
The 38-year-old, currently ranked three in the world, had committed to playing the inaugural tournament in Australia at the start of 2020, but has opted out in order to spend more time with his family.
The team competition sees 24 countries compete against each other – initially in a round-robin group stage – and Federer’s Switzerland side were scheduled to start their campaign against Murray’s Great Britain on January 3.
It would have been the first meeting between the two since a semifinal in Cincinnati four years ago.
But with the veteran desperate to try to win a maiden Olympic gold medal in Tokyo in August, he is keen to keep himself fresh.
“It is with great regret that I am withdrawing from the inaugural ATP Cup event,” said Federer on the tournament’s official website.
“When I entered the event last month, it was a really difficult decision because it meant less time at home with the family and a fully intense start to the season.
“After much discussion with both my family and my team about the year ahead, I have decided that the extra two weeks at home will be beneficial for both my family and my tennis.
“It pains me to not be a part of the most exciting new event on the calendar. But this is the right thing to do if I want to continue to play for a longer period of time on the ATP Tour.”
Switzerland drop out of the tournament as they only qualified due to Federer’s ranking.
Meanwhile, defending champion Elina Svitolina booked her place in the last four at the WTA Finals in Shenzhen with a straight-sets win over Simona Halep.
Svitolina (pictured below) overcame the Romanian 7-5 6-3 in one hour and 39 minutes to add to Monday’s win over Karolina Pliskova in the Purple Group.
The Ukrainian’s victory gave her some degree of revenge for the onesided beating she suffered at the hands of Halep in this year’s Wimbledon semi-finals.
And Svitolina insisted she was relishing the attention that comes with seeking to successfully defend the biggest title of her career.
She told media: “I don’t take it as pressure to be fair. Of course there’s some kind of pressure because you’re losing (ranking) points, but I always take it like I’ve played well here before, so I can do it again.”
Svitolina made a lightning start as she swept into a 3-0 lead but was hauled back by Halep, who then missed an opportunity to go a break up.
Svitolina grabbed her chance to take the lead when she broke Halep to love to win the first set. Halep grabbed the first break in the second set, but Svitolina hit back twice and then survived two break points before serving out for an
impressive victory.