Thursday, 16 November 2017

Federer outlasts Zverev in London

The third day/night of the ATP Finals produced two three set thrillers and included a broken record.

First it was fifth seed Marin Cilic (5) against Jack Sock (8), both coming off losses in their opening matches.

It was Cilic who began best, winning 63% of points on his second serve in the first set compared to 25% for Sock.

Service was broken twice by Cilic and once by Sock, enabling the Croatian to take the lead 7-5.

Sock struck back hard, reversing the trend with points won on second serve, 64% to 23%.

Two breaks to none and the match was level.

An even third set, with a break each, meant that a tie break would determine the result.

Cilic led 4-2 but some aggressive and outstanding shotmaking from Sock saw him rattle off five straight points to steal the match 5-7 6-2 7-6(4).

Alexander Zverev (3) served it up to Roger Federer (2) after surrendering the close opening set to the Swiss star in a tie break 8 points to 6.

In set two the German young gun converted two of seven break chances , while Federer broke just once from two chances.

Federer was clearly angry and blasted Zverev off the court in set three 6-1, remaining undefeated and taking a spot in the semi finals.

31 points to 17 in the decider and Federer will compete in the semi finals at the season ending tournament for the 14th time in 15 appearances. He now has broken the record of Tiger Woods in terms of career prize money.

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