Roger Federer comes back to beat Juan Martin Del Potro in three sets on Saturday in London. Federer is through to a semifinal showdown against Rafael Nadal.
Roger Federer has been counted out at times this season, and he looked down and out on several occasions on Saturday afternoon in London.
Instead, Federer recovered from multiple deficits to topple Juan Martin Del Potro 4-6, 7-6(2), 7-5 in a decisive round-robin clash at the World Tour Finals. The 32-year-old needed two hours and 26 minutes to earn a 2-1 record in round-robin play and secure a spot in the semifinals.
Federer seized break-backs in all three of the sets, although it was too little and too late in the opener because Del Potro raced to a 5-1 advantage. The Swiss trailed 3-1 in the second but leveled at 3-3 and eventually dominated the ensuing tiebreaker.
Del Potro again seized a quick upper hand in the third, powering his way to a 3-0 lead. However, the fifth-ranked Argentine struggled from ahead and continued to watch his opponent raise his level with back to the wall. Federer broke back for 2-3, held en route to 5-5, then forced Del Potro into a forehand error with a big return on break point at 5-5. The 17-time Grand Slam champion fought off one break point in the final game before converting his first match point with his 10th ace.
“Great finish,” Federer said. “I was very happy.”
“I think I got two chances to win the match,” Del Potro explained. “I broke his serve in the second set and in the third one. But he played great when I was up, and he deserved to come back in both sets. But at the end, when you have to be focus and find the winners, I made the mistakes and he was there really focused to take the chance. I think that was the key of the match.”
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