Roger Federer beat Rafael Nadal for the fifth time in a row–including four this year–with a 6-4, 6-3 triumph in the final of the Shanghai Rolex Masters on Sunday. The second-ranked Swiss cracked 10 aces without double-faulting, dropped only eight points in nine service games, and never faced a break point. He needed just one hour and 12 minutes to prevail.
A break in the opening game of the 38th career showdown between the two all-time greats Federer on his way. The 36-year-old consolidated it the whole way before breaking again for a 3-2 lead in the second set. Federer closed his dominant performance in style, breaking again at 5-3 to clinch victory.
Highlights:
This is Federer’s third Masters 1000 title of the season, having previously lifted trophies in Indian Wells and Miami. Federer and Nadal, of course, also split this year’s four Grand Slam titles.
“A lot has happened since and I was not here last year because of injury, so it is nice to be back in Shanghai, Federer noted. “[Nadal and I] didn’t think, maybe, we would have the year we have had. I definitely didn’t, so it is nice to share a court here with him here.”
It was lot nicer for Federer than it was for Nadal.
“It was a very difficult match for me,” the world No. 1 lamented. “He played very fast and he played well. I don’t know how many unforced errors he made. I could have done some things better, but that’s it. He just played too good. That’s my point of view. So congrats to him.
“I played a fantastic tournament, having very good wins; very pleased the way I played the whole Asian tour for me. Beijing and Shanghai have been a very positive two weeks for me. A lot of points, a lot of victories against great opponents. I come back with very good personal satisfaction the way that I played.”
Additional good news for Nadal is that he still leads Federer in the race for year-end No. 1 by almost 2,000 points. Nobody else is within 6,000 points of the race leader or within 4,000 of Federer.
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