ATP World Tour Finals - Day 4

Thursday 24th November


Today Federer took on Fish in a dead rubber match on day 4 of the ATP World Tour Finals. Fish doesn't have a good record against Federer but in a contest like this - his first tour end finals, Federer already through after two stonking performances, Fish's parents in the audience - he had nothing to lose. He started poorly, however, and soon found himself a set down with only one game on the board. 


He rallied in the second set and produced some beautiful serving to gain some momentum. He then rushed Federer into a couple of mistakes and found himself a break up and cruising to the business end of the set. Federer looked edgy as Fish continued to hit the ball early and find the lines with his booming groundstrokes. He was also showing his metal at the net and served out confidently for the set to take it to a decider. 


The third was a very tight affair and Federer himself said afterwards that he was worried and that he thought he was going to lose. He quickly gained a stranglehold on the set, however, as he broke Fish to go 2-0 up. Fish held on and the two men put on quite a show until Federer's trademark backhand ensured a 37th career victory in the competition - putting him second on the list and two behind top dog Ivan Lendl (39). 


Fish can go home a happy man having completed his best year ever on a fine performance this Thanksgiving day.


The other match was Tsonga v. Nadal, a must-win match for both players. Nadal has had a relatively weak competition so far and would have wanted to come out all guns blazing against the in-form Frenchman. Tsonga, on the other hand, was looking to reach his first Tour Finals semi-final. 


The two men commenced battle from the very first point and neither admitted defeat until Tsonga sunk Nadal and sent him home nearly three hours later. It was a great match. Two hard-hitting scrappy players fighting tooth and nail. Tsonga won a tough first set on the tie-break and Nadal took the second on a single break. 


Here was another third set decider. Nadal, famed for his resilience and ability to close out tough matches was now surely firm favourite. It was Tsonga, however, who responded best to the crowd's cheers and the pressure. He played brilliantly to break Nadal in the third game, held to love, then broke the Spaniard again to secure a 5-2 lead and a chance to serve for the semi-finals. With his superb shot-making and athleticism it was hard to see how Nadal could find a way back into the match but Tsonga choked when serving for the match and three double faults kept Nadal in contention.


Nadal was a broken man though and Tsonga, no doubt annoyed with his poor display in the previous game, broke him to love with an inside-out forehand that wrapped up an awesome performance. 


Tsonga - through; Nadal - gone.


I'll keep you blogged...