Roger Federer beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-1, 7-6 on Sunday to win the Paris Masters for the first time and clinch the 69th title of his career. The winner of 16 majors had never reached the final of this event but gave the sixth-seeded Frenchman little chance after saving two break points in his opening service game.
"I've been waiting for this for a long time," Federer said. "I'm really happy to have finally made it."
Federer's 18th Masters title puts him one ahead of Andre Agassi and one behind the all-time leader, Rafael Nadal. The 30-year-old from Switzerland is on a 12-match unbeaten run after winning the Swiss Indoors in Basel last week.
Tsonga improved his serve in the second set but Federer was too strong in the tie‑break, taking victory on his third match point when Tsonga's return landed out. Tsonga won the tournament in 2008 but was let down by too many unforced errors on his forehand as he tried to find a way to pressure Federer in their sixth meeting this year. "I just wish I could have competed more," said Tsonga, who beat Federer in the quarter‑finals at Wimbledon but lost at the same stage to the Swiss at the US Open. Overall, Federer now leads Tsonga 6-3.
Federer took 80 minutes to beat Tomas Berdych in straight sets in the semi-finals on Saturday whereas Tsonga laboured for three hours and saved three match points before getting the better of the unseeded American John Isner.
Federer's sharpness showed as he attacked Tsonga's weak second serve in the first set. He opened up a 4-0 lead after Tsonga, remonstrating with himself over too many loose forehands, served a double fault. The opening set lasted 30 minutes, Federer clinching it with a whipped forehand winner into the open court.
Tsonga had to raise his game in the second set or risk a thrashing and he dug out a cross‑court winning forehand in the fourth game to set up break point. With Federer on second serve, Tsonga missed his chance when his hurried forehand went out. With Federer's seemingly impregnable serve dipping for the first time in the match, the Frenchman missed another opportunity at 30-40 in the eighth game when he sent a forehand long.
Federer hardly had to dig deep but he did thrill the crowd with one moment of brilliance in the next game. A closely contested rally saw Tsonga send Federer scampering to the back of the court to retrieve a lob. Federer waited for the ball to sit up, spun round and hit a devastating backhand pass.
Tsonga looked nervous in the tie‑break, hitting a forehand long and a backhand into the net – either side of Federer's forehand winner and service winner – to trail 0-4. Federer raced to 6-1 and, though Tsonga saved two match points with a neat drop shot and a service winner, it was a brief reprieve.
Having won the Swiss indoors and Paris Masters back to back, Federer heads to London in fine form for the eight-man ATP World Tour Finals in London.
Source: Guardian
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