Federer Hangs on to Beat Nishikori in London

November 19, 2015 | By New York Tennis Magazine Staff
Photo credit: Lee Seidner

In what was probably the best match of the ATP World Tour Finals thus far, six-time champion Roger Federer outlasted multiple comeback attempts from Kei Nishikori, eventually defeating the Japan native 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 at the O2 Arena in London on Thursday.

The opening set saw numerous breaks as both players came out aggressive on the other’s serve. Nishikori, a semifinalist in London last year, fell behind an early break and found himself in a 1-3 hole. But he was able to find his groundstrokes, and answered with three straight games to take a 4-3 lead and go up a break himself.

But as was the theme of the first set, Federer responded with a break of his own to even things at 4-4. The set would remain on serve until 6-5, when Nishikori was serving to force a tie-breaker, and Federer converted his third break point to wrap up the opener 7-5.

The Swiss then seemed to be on his way to a routine victory when he raced out to a 4-1 lead in the second set. Once again, however, Nishikori responded. He won the next five games to take the second set and force a deciding third.

The third set was eerily similar to the first two, as after Federer saved three break points to hold for 2-1, built a 4-1 lead and looked to be on his way to an easy deciding set. But Nishikori fought back again, evening the set at 4-4.

Federer had one last break in him, though, and after a hold, two straight errors from Nishikori opened the window for Federer to finally close the match out, and he did with an overhead smash.

“It was extremely difficult,” said Federer. “It was a good match, with more breaks than we are used to. Kei is a very good returner, especially on the second serve. It was a very physical match, but I enjoyed it.”

The loss means Nishikori won’t qualify for the semifinals, while Federer wins the Stan Smith Group and moves into the final four.

Nishikori finishes his 2015 with three titles and a record of 56-14.

Novak Djokovic will take on Tomas Berdych this afternoon in the final round-robin match of the Stan Smith Group. Djokovic needs to win just one set against Berdych to qualify for the semifinals. 


New York Tennis Magazine Staff
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