Federer feels he has the right momentum to forge ahead
Djokovic inches closer to ATP Finals semis berth with win against Zverev
Former world number one and six-time champion Roger Federer feels he has the right momentum for heading towards a possible seventh crown at the year-ending Nitto ATP Finals this weekend.
Needing a win following his first round loss to Japan Kei Nishikori on the opening night, Federer stuttered but eventually clinched a 6-2, 6-3 win over Austrian youngster Dominic Thiem in 66 minutes to keep his hopes alive at The O2 Arena here late on Tuesday.
The 37-year-old will next take on South Africa’s Kevin Anderson in their third and final group match today with several permutations and combinations eventually deciding the two semi-finalists from the Group Lleyton Hewitt.
The winner of 99 career titles so far is not looking too far ahead. “I feel like I’m ready to go for the next one [against Anderson]. Yeah, I mean, I don’t know what happened against [Kei] Nishikori.
“Maybe it’s the round-robin format that got to me. You don’t feel like you have the knife here, like in another tournament where if you’re struggling in the first round, you know if you don’t get your act together, you’re home in 30 minutes,” Federer explained.
“You know here you’re going to play three matches. Sometimes that’s going to make you feel a bit easy,” he added.
All that was behind him though as Federer had an easy outing against an out-of-sorts Thiem to bring their all-time career record to 2-2.
Federer can go through to the knockout semi-finals if he wins in straight sets or even in three sets against his South African opponent today.
Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic took a big step towards the semi-finals with a clinical 6-4, 6-1 victory over Alexander Zverev yesterday.
After a very physical and close first set, the Serb ran away with the second one. “I don’t think it was breathtaking tennis, but a win is a win,” Djokovic said.