Federer falls to Nishikori at Nitto ATP Finals, Anderson defeats Thiem

Roger Federer had been 11-0 in his last 11 round-robin matches at the Nitto ATP Finals. He had also gotten the best of Kei Nishikori twice–and in straight sets–already this fall. So almost no one could have seen this result coming.

Nishikori decisively tuned the tide with a 7-6(4), 6-3 upset during round-robin action on Sunday night, avenging recent losses to the 37-year-old in Shanghai and Paris. The Japanese veteran raised his level starting in the first-set tiebreaker and swiftly erased an early break deficit in the second to prevail in one hour and 27 minutes.

Perhaps Federer was less surprised than anyone, because the Swiss admitted afterward that he had not been practicing well heading into the tournament–and he is a traditional slow starter relative to how he plays at the latter stages of tournaments.

“I felt we both struggled throughout the first set,” Federer assessed. “You could tell it was sort of a first round…. Then I started to feel better in the second set. I think we both did; the level went up. Unfortunately I couldn’t keep the lead that I got early.

“I think it plays different or it’s definitely slower than I think the last three tournaments that I’ve played (Shanghai, Basel, and Paris). So I think everybody’s making a minor adjustment; so am I. I’ve been feeling fine; it’s just that practice has been a bit all over the place. Practiced in Queen’s, practiced on the outside courts here, then center as well. So it’s not always exactly the same conditions.”

Conditions will be unique for Federer on Tuesday, when he makes a rare appearance in the proverbial “losers match” and possibly faces a must-win situation against Dominic Thiem.

Kevin Anderson held off Thiem 6-3, 7-6(10) in one hour and 48 minutes in the tournament’s opening round-robin showdown. Both players finished with more winners than unforced errors, including plus-7 for Anderson (29 to 22). The 6’8” South African imposed his will on Thiem, firing 13 aces and winning a dominant 17 of 19 net points.

Both men stepped up their games in the second set, especially Thiem–but it was not enough to force a decider for the eighth-ranked Austrian.

Highlights:

“I had no chance basically in the first set to break him,” Thiem admitted. “Me, I was in trouble almost every service game; so the first set was not really good. Then the second one was a very good set of tennis, I would say. (It) was just one little ball here and there why I lost at the end.”

“Going into this year I was 6-0 against him,” said Anderson, who now leads the head-to-head series 7-2. “I must be honest; even though I was 6-0, in Paris a few years ago I saved match point against him. In Washington he was up a break twice in the third set…. I feel like we’ve always had very close matches.

“I don’t think there’s any particular thing that matches up incredibly well. We’ve had close matches. I’ve managed take my opportunities–close out matches better than he has in our head-to-head.

“I think from today’s match, I did a really good job of not giving him time. I think just overall I’ve done that pretty well against him. I think that’s why he’s been such an amazing clay-court player because he creates a little bit more time. When he has time, he’s just so dangerous. I’ve had to play great tennis against him. I think I’ve done a great job of just making him feel a little bit uncomfortable. That’s why I’ve had good success against him so far.”

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