Federer Shanghai Final Profile
Federer won in Houston in 2003-04. Tournament History: The twice-defending champion is bidding for his third straight Tennis Masters Cup title, having won titles in Houston the last two years. Federer defeated Andre Agassi 63 60 64 in the 2003 final, and Lleyton Hewitt 63 62 in the 2004 final.
Federer is attempting to become the first man to win the Tennis Masters Cup three times, and the first man to win a year-end championships three times since Pete Sampras, who won the last of five ATP Tour World Championship titles in 1999. The last man to win three consecutive year-end events was Ivan Lendl, doing so 1985-1987 at the Masters (he also won there 1981-82). For more information see Preview above.
So far this week Federer has posted wins over Nalbandian 63 26 64 in his first match (Sunday), Ivan Ljubicic 63 26 76(4) (Tuesday) and Guillermo Coria 60 16 62 (Thursday), finishing top of the Red Group with a perfect 3-0 record. He defeated Gaston Gaudio 60 60 in the semifinals for the first ‘double bagel’ of his career and the first 60 60 scoreline in a season-ending championship.
Federer now owns a 17-1 career record in TMC play (and has a perfect 12-0 record in round robin play). He has won 14 consecutive matches since his only loss to Hewitt in the semifinals here in Shanghai three years ago, when he was defeated 75 57 75.
Federer was honoured on court on Monday evening for his record-setting season, and presented with the INDESIT ATP 2005 Race trophy for finishing the year at No. 1.
2005 Review:
· Sprained his right ankle while practising on Oct. 11 in Basel and withdrew from Madrid, Basel and Paris, but made a winning return to action here.
· Is bidding for his 12 title today, having won an ATP-best 11 titles (along with Nadal) thus far, including two Grand Slam and a record four ATP Masters Series crowns.
· Federer is attempting to win his 12th title of the season, which would be the most since Muster won 12 titles in 1995.
· He is bidding to win his 23rd title in two years – this would be the most since Ivan Lendl won 25 titles 1981-82.
· During the year, he moved from No. 28 to tied No. 15 in the Open Era Career Title Leaders list, having now won 33 titles. Winning 2005 TMC would see him move into 14th place, alongside Michael Chang.
· Finishes as No. 1 on the Entry Ranking for the second straight year. He clinched No. 1 on Oct. 3 after winning the Bangkok title and became only the fifth player in the history of the ATP Rankings (since 1973) to rank No. 1 every week during the calendar year (the others being Connors, Lendl, Sampras, Hewitt). He has ranked No. 1 for 94 consecutive weeks (since Feb. 2, 2004) and will reach the 100-week mark on Dec. 26.
· By capturing five Grand Slam titles within the last two years, Federer became the first player since Rod Laver in 1968-69 to win five in back-to-back seasons. His 6-0 record in Grand Slam finals is a player’s best showing since Tony Wilding compiled the same mark in 1913. Federer also became the first player since Don Budge in 1937-38 to win Wimbledon and US Open in the same season in back-to-back years.
· In two of his three losses in 2005, Federer held at least one match point (in Australian Open SF vs. Safin, 1 M.P.; Monte Carlo QF vs. Gasquet, 3 M.P.). His other loss came to Nadal in SF at Roland Garros on June 3.
· Federer has an Open Era record 41-match winning streak on hard courts that is still active, and is 50-1 for the season on the surface, his only loss being to Safin at the Australian Open.
· Federer began the season with title in Doha (d. Ljubicic). After falling in SF to Safin 9-7 in a fifth set at Australian Open, he compiled a 25-match winning streak with titles in Rotterdam (d. Ljubicic), Dubai (d. Ljubicic) and back-to-back ATP Masters Series in Indian Wells (d. Hewitt) and Miami (d. Nadal), rallying from two sets down to win in five. His streak ended on clay in Monte Carlo where French teenager Gasquet rallied to win in a third set tie-break (10-8). He rebounded in his next tournament at ATP Masters Series Hamburg and won the title for the third time in four years, defeating Gasquet in the final. At Roland Garros, he advanced to his first SF, losing to eventual champion Nadal in four sets. Then began his winning streak on grass with titles in Halle and Wimbledon for the third straight year. (He goes into next season undefeated (36-0) on grass since 2003.) Federer continued his success on hard courts with titles at Cincinnati, US Open and Bangkok.
Pre-tournament bio
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