Following Dominic Thiem’s win over Kei Nishikori, Roger Federer now has to achieve one of three scenarios to progress at the ATP Finals on Wednesday.
The 20-time grand slam champion will take on Kevin Anderson in what will be the final match in Group Lleyton Hewitt. Earlier in the week, Federer suffered a shock loss to Kei Nishikori before getting back on track with a win over Thiem. Meanwhile, Anderson has already qualified for the semi-finals after winning both of his previous matches. He is the first African player in history to do so.
“They are both very nice guys. I mean, I messed it up the two previous matches myself.” Thiem commented about the upcoming match during his press conference. “I didn’t really think about it (Federer Vs Anderson) today in the match. I wanted to play well again. That’s what I did part of times today in the match.”
In order for Federer to join Anderson in the next stage, he needs to achieve one of the following:-
- Win at least one set against Anderson
- Lose in straight sets, but win a total of five games
- Lose in straight sets with one set going to seven games, but win six games.
Federer is hoping to qualify for the semi-finals for the 15th time in 16 appearances at the event. The only occasion he failed to do so was at the 2008 ATP Finals. He holds the tournament record for most titles (6) and most match wins (56).
Federer leads Anderson 4-1 in their head-to-head, however, he lost to the South African in their most recent meeting. That was at the Wimbledon Championships earlier this year when he was edged out 13-11 in the final set after failing to convert a match point.
