SHANGHAI, October 15, 2017
Roger Federer clinched his second Shanghai crown after 2014 and 27th at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 level on Sunday. The Swiss maestro defeated Rafael Nadal in the singles final of the Rolex Shanghai Masters 6-4, 6-3
Federer sent down 10 aces, winning 83 per cent of his first service points to secure victory in one hour and 12 minutes.
It was the 94th title in Federer’s storied career, which pulls him level with Ivan Lendl for second on the Open Era list. Only Jimmy Connors owns more trophies (109). With the win, the 36-year-old draws to within 1,960 points of Nadal for the top spot in the Emirates ATP Race To London.
More history made.@RogerFederer beats Rafa Nadal for the 5th consecutive time to win 27th Masters 1000 title!#SHRolexMasters pic.twitter.com/kfcFegJXxU
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) 15. Oktober 2017
“I had no nerves really before the match, which was nice. I was pretty clear about how I wanted to play the match. And then I came out and started off very well. Felt relaxed from then on. I always know that Rafa can come back at any moment if he connects well, picks the right sides, and does the right things,” Federer said.
“In a way, it’s not surprising, because I did feel good all week, and it does pay off to arrive early to an event. You can’t do it all the time, but I was here since Thursday late night and that’s five, six days to prepare for a Wednesday match. So I was ready.”
Nadal suffered his first defeat since returning to No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings in August, seeing his win streak snapped at 16 straight.
“I played a fantastic tournament, having very good wins. I’m very pleased the way I played the whole Asian tour for me. Beijing and Shanghai have been a very positive two weeks for me. A lot of points, a lot of victories against great opponents. I come back with very good personal satisfaction the way that I played,” Nadal told.
Top Seeds Clinch Doubles Crown
Top seeds Henri Kontinen of Finland and John Peers from New Zealand captured the doubles title with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Lukasz Kubot of Poland and Brazilian Marcelo Melo. The final lasted 69 minutes.
The Finnish-Aussie duo improved to 9-1 as a team in finals, adding a second ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crown.
“Winning matches one by one and then obviously in the end winning the title, that’s great. To do it back to back, last week in Beijing and then here. Losing the final last year and now getting it, yeah, that’s the most pleasing part for me,” Kontinen said.
“I felt the biggest difference is we’ve learnt how to sort of play better and more consistently in the bigger matches and the bigger tournaments. This year we’ve done that a lot better, and that’s been the biggest challenge for us was to consistently perform well in the big events. And for us, to be able to do it this year, has been really great so far. That’s the challenge for us still coming the rest of the year, to keep performing in the biggest events,” Peers added.
