Roger Federer has completed a clean sweep in the Stan Smith group after beating Kei Nishikori 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, during a roller-coaster encounter at the O2 Arena in London.
Regardless of the outcome of the match, Federer had already qualified for the semi-finals after back-to-back wins in his group. The Swiss is playing in his 14th consecutive year-end championships, reaching the last four in 13 of them, and is the oldest player to participate in the tournament since Andre Agassi in 2005. On the other hand Nishikori had to win to keep his presence alive in the tournament.
The match started with both players holding their opening service games with ease. During both games there were some loose shots coming from the returner, triggering numerous unforced errors. The early advantage was taken by Federer after he produced a deep return to force his rival to hit the ball into the net, rewarding him with the first break point of the match. The break was handed to the Swiss after another unforced error from the Japanese player enabled Federer to lead 3-1. The lead was however over within a blink of an eye as Nishikori broke back in the next game by taking advantage of below-par game from Federer. The big hitting from Nishikori continued as he produced a duo of outstanding winners to break once again to 4-3, triggering a big fist pump from him.
Great point: @KeiNishikori is pulling out all the stops to make the semis #finalshowdown https://t.co/kRsZ9udpkC https://t.co/rRpJJOwklj
— TennisTV (@TennisTV) November 19, 2015
The game plan was simple for Nishikori, to attack Federer’s second serve. In his first three service games, the 34-year-old Swiss only won 25% of his second serves. Despite the game plan working, it didn’t help Nishikori with his own service strategy as the 17-time Grand Slam champion kept surging back in what became a familiar pattern. The continuous exchange of breaks placed the set of course for a tiebreaker until one more charge from Federer. Increasing his pressure, he forced Nishikori to hit a ball right into the net to give him his third break and more importantly the opening set.
After the roller-coaster opening set, Federer increased his performance once again as he grabbed nine consecutive points to charge to a set and 3-1 lead. The quick start by the Swiss was disheartening for Nishikori, who grew despondent on the court. Despite leading by a break and a set, Federer still found it difficult to pull away. A sublime forehand return from the world No.8 revived Nishikori’s qualifying chances as he broke yet again before clawing back to 4-4. The resurgence took Federer by surprise. At 30-30, a disastrous shot at the net from Federer aided Nishikori break once again for a chance to serve for the second set. Unlike his poor ending to the first set, Nishikori appeared the more forceful one as a shot from the Swiss failed to go over the net, giving Nishikori the second set.
After dropping the second set, Federer faced more pressure at the start on the deciding set. During the third game he was forced to save three break points before nudging ahead to 2-1. The inability of Nishikori to break was costly in the following game after a forehand winner give the Swiss the crucial break of the final set before another comeback by the Japanese player to level proceedings at 4-4. After the latest disappointment in the match, Federer once again nudge ahead to 5-4 after impressively holding his serve to love. Moving closer to the win, a wild forehand from Nishikori gave the Swiss his first match point. Federer only required one chance as he constructed a outstanding point, ending it with a smash, to grab his third and more hardest victory at the O2 Arena.
During the epic encounter, which lasted two hours and ten minutes, Federer produced 33 winners alongside 35 unforced errors. The win means that Nishikori is out of the event and Novak Djokovic could qualify for the last four if he wins at least one set against Tomas Berdych on Thursday evening.
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