LONDON, November 15, 2018

On the final day of Group Lleyton Hewitt round robin action at the Nitto ATP Finals on Thursday, six-time champion Roger Federer followed No. 4 seed Kevin Anderson into the stage of the last four in London.

The 37-year-old Swiss maestro defeated the South African 6-4, 6-3. Federer withstood 10 aces and broke his opponent’s serve four times to advance in one hour and 17 minutes. The World No. 3, winner of the group, is through to the semis for the 15th time in 16 appearances.

Straight-sets win ✅
Qualify for semi-finals ✅
Group winner ✅

A perfect evening for @rogerfederer after a 6-4 6-3 win over Anderson at the #NittoATPFinals! 👌 pic.twitter.com/tA0wpNQQ5L

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) 15. November 2018

“I am very happy today. My first match was tough against Kei but I tried to come up with a good game plan against Dominic and Kevin and I am pleased that it worked out,” Federer told Annabel Croft during his on-court interview.

“I am excited to be in the semis and I am looking forward to play another match here.”

Anderson has become the first South African to reach the semi-finals in the tournament history, which dates back to 1970.

Earlier in the day, Dominic Thiem defeated Kei Nishikori of Japan 6-1, 6-4. The 25-year-old Austrian all four break points he faced, capitalizing on three of his own nine chances to seal victory one hour and 24 minutes.

Alive and kicking 👊@ThiemDomi records a 6-1 6-4 victory, eliminating Nishikori in the process. #NittoATPFinals pic.twitter.com/EiRzlhYjml

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) 15. November 2018

“I just went into that match and wanted to show my real self again basically because two days ago was really bad. I was not feeling good to play such a match in front of such a big crowd and everything. I wanted to have a much better game again today. That’s what I did,” Thiem said.

“I did some adjustments. I tried to have a higher firstserve percentage. Some things definitely paid off. Of course, I’m happy that I got the win.”

Murray/Soares and Cabal/Farah advance to semi-finals

Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares ended Group Llodra/Santoro with a 3-0 record, beating Henri Kontinen of Finland and Australian John Peers 3-6, 7-6(3), 10-3 in one hour and 27 minutes.

“It was a great effort for to us win the match because we obviously were hanging in a lot of the time. We never find it easy to play those guys because they serve so well, they got a lot of firepower. They make it stressful for you. But we hung in,” Murray was pleased with the performance.

“Again, we played our best at the end, which is really what matters in doubles.”

Murray and Soares will be joined by Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah in the semi-finals. The No. 2 seeded Colombians edged past Raven Klaasen from South Africa and Michael Venus of New Zealand 6-3, 7-6(5). The encounter lasted one hour and 23 minutes.

ATP Finals Notes:

• Jamie Murray commented on the possible success of the two team events, the new Davis Cup Final in November 2019 and the ATP Cup in January 2020: “I think the ATP is in pole position to have a successful event purely based on the week that it’s in. And also the players, they all want to support the ATP and their event.“The ATP has always had the World Team Cup, they just haven’t been able to use it for a while. The ATP has never come out and said this is a direct competition to Davis Cup. They have the license to have that event. They want to put on that event and bring it back, make it a huge success for the ATP.”

   

• Dominic Thiem is looking forward to the off-season: “Now I will go one week on holidays, then I spend few days at home. I think the most important period of the season is starting, the off-season, the only time where we have time to practice and to really improve all the stuff what we need to work for. That’s how it is in tennis.”