Rafael Nadal takes out Roger Federer in straight sets on Sunday in London. Nadal is joined in a blockbuster final by Novak Djokovic, a routine winner over Stanislas Wawrinka.
(1) Rafael Nadal d. (6) Roger Federer 7-5, 6-3
Nadal booked a spot in his second career World Tour Finals title match by beating Federer in one hour and 19 minutes on Sunday afternoon. Federer had been 4-0 lifetime against Nadal indoors, but the 32-year-old was a considerable underdog heading into this one based on form. The Spaniard is still alive to win his fifth hard-court title of the season, while Federer ends his 2013 campaign with just a single triumph on the grass courts of Halle.
Federer did well to immediately battle back after getting broken at 4-4 in the first set, but there was no recovery when a third consecutive break went in Nadal’s favor at 5-5. The world No. 1 closed out the opening set one game later before earning another scalp of the Federer serve at 2-2 in the second. At that point the Swiss started to struggle, attempting to end points at the net only to see his opponent strike passes for either clean winners or to force errors. Nadal’s fourth break at 5-3 clinched victory and sent him through to a final showdown against Novak Djokovic.
“I think Roger played really aggressive; that’s my feeling,” Nadal assessed. “At the beginning, his serve worked very well. My feeling is in the first set, he played very well. So in my opinion until 4-4, he was playing better than me…. The key of the match was probably at 5-5, after he had the break back in the first set, when I was serving for the set. I got the break another time to be 6-5 in my favor. That was very important.”
(2) Novak Djokovic d. (7) Stanislas Wawrinka 6-3, 6-3
Djokovic won his 21st consecutive match and his 14th in a row against Wawrinka by cruising in one hour and 25 minutes. Wawrinka, who reached the semis in his very first year-end championship appearance, got off to a strong start by breaking for a 2-1 lead in the first set. However, that was lone highlight of the entire match for the eighth-ranked Swiss. Djokovic took advantage of dismal serving by his opponent (48 percent in the opener) by breaking right back for 2-2 and once more before serving out the set at 5-3.
A quick break in the second all but ended Wawrinka’s upset chances. That was all Djokovic needed because he dropped a mere two points in his last four service games, but he broke again for good measure at 5-3 to wrap up the proceedings in style. The second-ranked Serb finished with two aces and no double-faults while capitalizing on four of 10 break-point opportunities.
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