Federer beats Nadal for Shanghai title
Roger Federer extended his winning streak over Rafael Nadal this year to four matches after beating the top-ranked Spaniard 6-4, 6-3 to win the Shanghai Masters.
Federer won his 94th career title, moving him into a tie with Ivan Lendl in second place on the Open era list.
The Swiss 19-time grand slam winner, who still trails Nadal 23-15 in their overall head-to-head record, didn’t face a break point and started and ended the match with service breaks to snap Nadal’s 16-game winning streak, which included his China Open victory last week.
Despite his 2017 dominance, Federer doesn’t rate his chances of catching Nadal in head-to-head play.
“It’s not going to happen. We don’t have enough years left on the tour. We’re ranked too good so we play each other only in finals,” Federer said.
Nadal played with a bandage under his right knee, the same leg he twice smacked with his racket after losing his serve for the first time this week in the semifinal.
In his post-match news conference, Nadal elected not to discuss the injury and would not confirm if he’d play upcoming tournaments in Basel, Switzerland and Paris.
Maria Sharapova won her first WTA title since returning from a doping ban, defeating Aryna Sabalenka to win the Tianjin Open in China . ... Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova won her third WTA singles title of the year, beating Daria Gavrilova 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (3) in the Hong Kong Open final . ... Barbora Strycova ended a six-year wait for her second WTA singles title by defeating Magdalena Rybarikova 6-4, 6-1 at the Ladies Linz in Austria.
Pat Perez won the PGA Tour’s CIMB Classic in Malaysia, claiming a four-shot victory over compatriot Keegan Bradley. The American sealed his first title in almost a year despite carding a modest threeunder 69 in the final round . ... Colin Montgomerie earned his second PGA Champions Tour victory in five weeks, a three-stroke win at the SAS Championship in Cary, N.C. He shot a bogey-free, eight-under 64 in his final round of the regular-season finale . ... Jin Young Ko clinched her first LPGA Tour victory at the KEB Hana Bank Championship in South Korea . ... Tyrrell Hatton sank a 15-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to win the Italian Open for his second European Tour victory in two weeks.
Sporting Kansas City and the Houston Dynamo both clinched MLS playoff spots in a scoreless draw.
Katie Smith will be the next coach of the WNBA’s New York Liberty, the Associated Press reported.
The Vegas Golden Knights placed goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury and forward Jonathan Marchessault on injured reserve . ... The Montreal Canadiens placed defenseman Mark Streit on unconditional waivers, the Associated Press reported.