Federer blitzes Nadal then targets Wimbledon
ROGER FEDERER continues to be the sporting phenomenon of 2017 to date, sweeping all before him again as he dismissed Rafael Nadal to win the Miami Open title. Incredibly, after missing the second half of 2016 to repair his body, he has won the three biggest titles of the season, the latest with a 6-3, 6-4 win achieved in 94 minutes. Federer, 35, has won 20 matches this season, his one loss being against little-know Russian Evgeny Donskoy in Dubai. A deflated Nadal put it succinctly, describing it as ‘an amazing start to the season, one of the best comebacks to the tour after a long injury’. The Swiss could barely have imagined this six months ago. ‘The dream continues, it has been a fabulous couple of weeks,’ he told an adoring crowd. While it is his rejuvenated backhand that has garnered so much attention, it was his forehand that did the damage against Nadal, who has now lost the final five times here — once to Federer 12 years ago. Remarkably, Federer’s movement and fitness are like a flashback to his midtwenties. After his win in the Australian Open, he is playing without a care in the world, and not even a gruelling quarter and semi-final in Florida’s heat was enough to derail him. His now established strategy of hitting aggressively through his returns worked a treat, and he created nine break points, the decisive one coming after a favourable net cord at 4-4 in the second set. His signature inside-out forehand was continually forcing Nadal backwards. It came as no great surprise when Federer said later he would largely sidestep the European clay season, with the exception of the French Open. ‘Wimbledon has to be the biggest goal now,’ said the new world No 4. ‘I will stay on hard courts for the next month and get on clay two weeks before the French.’