Federer Makes Roddick Pay For Missed Opprtunities; Breaks $7m Mark
© Getty Images By Bill Scott
Roger Federer stamped his authority on Andy Roddick for the 12th time in 13 meetings, winning his eighth consecutive match against the American to claim a perfect 2-0 Red group record at the Tennis Masters Cup on Tuesday.
The Swiss world No. 1 didn't have it all his own way though, with the American forcing him to salvage three match points to keeps his hopes alive in the second-set tiebreaker.
Roddick (audio) was unable to react in the final game after two hours and 24 minutes on court at the Qi Zhong stadium, with the Swiss raining down the final three of his 13 aces.
"I think he played the perfect match for two sets," said Federer, 89-5 this season. "Maybe he lacked one serve in the end, so it was unfortunate for him. I tried my best, it's always hard to control against Andy when he's serving so big like in the first two sets.
"I got a bit lucky in the end. In the third set I was pretty much in control from the start. I'm really, really happy to not be under pressure like he is now."
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Federer heads into his last group match against Croatian Ivan Ljubicic after firing 58 winners against Roddick, who managed a dozen aces and kept his unforced error count to 25.
Roddick beat Federer for his one and only time so far in 2003 in the AMS Montreal semi-finals. Federer has now defeated Roddick twice at the Tennis Masters Cup level after a Houston final-four win three years ago.
"If I don't believe now, then I never will," the American said of his chances to someday overcome his Swiss nemesis. "I put myself in a position to win tonight.
"With the progress I've made over the last four or five months, I feel like I'm only getting better each time I step out there on the court.
"It's tough right now, bugt it definitely feels like it's on the upswing tonight. I felt I was unlucky not to win this one."
Federer stands a perfect 14-0 at the group level at the season-ending tournament from five participations.
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The Swiss showed why he will finish the ATP season on top of the rankings again with his fight back success. The last of his five 2006 defeats came in August to Andy Murray at the AMS Cincinnati. Federer now owns 89 wins on the season, his best ever.
Federer has lifted a leading total of 11 titles this year and becomes the first player in Open Era to win at least 10 titles over three consecutive years.
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