Federer closing on Connors record

ROGER FEDERER is on the brink of entering tennis’s Room 101, although that is nothing to fear for the great Swiss.

If he can defuse the power of American servebot John Isner in today’s Miami Open final it will be his 101st career title, with no signs of the wins stopping in his 38th year.

For a third successive tournament Federer has made an ATP final, this time at the expense of 19 year-old Denis Shapovalov, beating him 6-4, 6-2 at the last-four stage inside the Miami Dolphins stadium.

‘I told my kids that Shapovalov wasn’t even born when I started playing on the pro tour,’ said the father of four. Federer (left) and Isner have an aggregate age of 70 and, in the former’s case, he is getting ever closer to Jimmy Connors’ record of 109 titles on the main tour. Expectations that his defeat by Stefanos Tsitsipas at the Australian Open was the precursor to a long fade have been confounded. Since then he has won the final of Dubai, made the final of Indian Wells and now Miami. In the process his ranking is actually moving up, and he will now be at No4 this week, regardless of the outcome, because he lost in the first round of this event in 2018.

And, unlike last year, tonight’s match will not mark the start of a long hiatus for Federer.

He plans to return to the clay this season at the Madrid Open ahead of the French Open.

The women’s title in Miami was won by Australian Ashleigh Barty, who bamboozled her way past bigserving Czech Karolina Pliskova to triumph 7-6, 6-3.

The biggest trophy of her career to date lifts Barty to world No9. She is the first Australian to make a single-digit WTA ranking since Sam Stosur in 2013.