Federer Clinches Fourth Masters Cup Crown


ATP World No. 1 Roger Federer capped another breathtaking season with his fourth Tennis Masters Cup title in five years after defeating Spaniard David Ferrer 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 in Shanghai Sunday.

Played before a capacity crowd at the futuristic Qi Zhong stadium and set against the backdrop of the sound of Swiss cow bells and a Spanish trumpeter, Federer improved his unbeaten record against Ferrer to 8-0.

Appearing in his 70th career final, Federer improved his record in title matches to 53-17. He is 4-1 in Masters Cup finals, losing the 2005 title match to David Nalbandian in a fifth-set tie-break.
Only three other players - Ilie Nastase, Ivan Lendl and Pete Sampras - have won the circuit finale four or more times, with Nastase winning it four times (1971, 1972, 1973, 1975), Lendl winning five times (1981, 1982, 1985, 1986, 1987) and most recently Sampras winning five times (1991, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1999).

By winning the title Federer became the first player in history to win more than $10 million in a season. He came into the event with $7.4 million in 2007 earnings and added $1.2 million for winning the title with a 4-1 record. The Swiss also collects $1.5 million from the $3 million ATP Masters Series Bonus Pool, taking his season haul to $10,130,620.

Federer was also presented with a new Mercedes CLS 500.

Coming into the tournament Federer had already won the ATP 2007 Race, locking up the year-end No. 1 South African Airways Ranking for the fourth consecutive year. (Sampras finished year-end No. 1 a record six consecutive times.)

On Monday, November 26, Federer will mark his 200th consecutive week as ATP World No. 1.

Federer finishes the season with a 68-9 record. He won eight titles including his third Australian Open, fifth consecutive Wimbledon and fourth consecutive US Open. For the third time in his career he won three Grand Slam titles in the same season.

In his four seasons at No. 1 Federer has not lost more than nine matches in a year, dropping nine this year, five in 2006, four in 2005 and six in 2004.

Federer suffered just his third loss in six Tennis Masters Cup campaigns when he was beaten 7-5 in the third set by Fernando Gonzalez in his first group match. But he rebounded to claim four straight wins without dropping a set against Nikolay Davydenko, Andy Roddick, Rafael Nadal and Ferrer. The Swiss now boasts a 26-3 lifetime record at Tennis Masters Cup. He has failed to reach the final just once: in 2002 when he fell to Lleyton Hewitt in the semifinals.

After capping his best season on tour with a run to the Shanghai final, Ferrer will finish a career-best No. 5 in the South African Airways Rankings. He went undefeated through the round-robin stage with wins over No. 2 Rafael Nadal, No. 3 Novak Djokovic and No. 8 Richard Gasquet, and in the semifinals dismissed Andy Roddick 6-1, 6-3.

Right from the outset of the final Federer made Ferrer do the running. And in a change of tactics from his semifinal win over Rafael Nadal, Federer used his slice backhand more often to break Ferrer's rhythm and also regularly attacked the net, winning 20 of 27 approaches.

The Swiss hit 30 winners to Ferrer's 10, finishing with a blistering crosscourt pass past the incoming Spaniard to close out the match with his sixth break of serve.

After playing so well in his four Shanghai victories before the final, Ferrer made an uncharacteristic 38 unforced errors to Federer's 29.

Ferrer, who was playing in his first indoor final, was trying to become the first debutante to win the title since countryman Alex Corretja in 1998.

WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID

Federer: "It's been a great season for me. And finishing off the best players in the world in the Masters Cup, it's always a great experience for me. I think it only really is going to start coming down on me like next week, and then especially during holidays.

"It's been in some ways a breakthrough year for me. Especially the way I played in the beginning of the year, not losing a set during the Australian Open, coming here, beating everybody in straight sets after losing against González when people thought, okay, Federer is maybe not playing so well. Beating Nadal for the first time on clay. I've beaten all my closest rivals, Nadal and Djokovic, more times than they've beaten me. It's been one of those years which I'm really, really happy about.

"Maybe I didn't win 10 titles, but it's not necessary to stay No. 1 in the world all the time. If I keep this level of play up, I mean, I'm in a great position for next year as well.

"Obviously this week, every time I came to the net, I felt like I was in a good position, you know, whereas sometimes you come to the net you think like, 'Oh, God, I hope I don't have to play a volley.' I'm actually very happy I could turn it around, because I was playing very passive in Madrid, Basel and Paris. I always knew I had great defensive skills, and I showed that again this week with the great offensive skill. And when both work, it's hard to beat me basically."

Ferrer: "Maybe I play with a little bit nervous, but him do it all, no? Serve, volley, slice. It's very difficult. My game, it's difficult to play with him, no?

"I'm happy for the week because I am playing a very, very good level, and my first final in the Masters Shanghai. My family, they are here. Very happy for that, no? But now maybe I was a little bit angry because the final I lost. But very happy. Very happy for this week."