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Federer tees up Finals bid with Paris win


 

Originally published on: 14/11/11 09:50

Unbeaten since the US Open semi-finals, Roger Federer continued his excellent preparation for the defense of his Barclays ATP World Tour Finals crown after winning the Paris Masters for the first time.

The 30-year-old Swiss picked up his 69th career title following a 6-1 7-6(3) victory over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

“I’m just really ecstatic to have played so well this week from start to finish,” said Federer. “Basically from first ball struck against [Adrian] Mannarino all the way until the very end here. I couldn’t be more happy.”

The victory was all the more impressive for Federer after he was given a 4am wake-up call by one of his twin-daughters ahead of the final.

“In the end, it was all right. I am happy,” said Federer. “It happened several times this week, so maybe it’s a good sign.”

The triumph puts the sixteen-time Grand Slam champion one ahead of Andre Agassi with 18 Masters 1000 titles, one short of Rafael Nadal’s 19, sees him become the first to contest the final of all nine Masters 1000 events and ends his long wait for the BNP Paribas Masters crown.

“I have had many attempts trying to win Paris Bercy and for some reason, I wasn’t able to win it earlier. But this one obviously feels great and it’s a special victory,” said Federer, who had secured his fifth win at the Swiss Indoors Basel the previous week.

“I have played well for a few months now,” added Federer. “Maybe I didn’t win the US Open, but we all know I was one point away from making the finals and then who knows? But Novak was able to come back in that great match against me at the Open…

“I’ve had some really tough losses this year, but I kept believing that still the year wasn’t over, I can finish this year on a high, which has proved to be the case.

“Now I can still have a massive highlight coming up in a week’s time.”

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Tim Farthing, Tennishead Editorial Director & Owner, has been a huge tennis fan his whole life. He's a tennis journalist and entrepreneur as well as playing tennis to a national standard. He also helps manage his local club and volunteers for his local tennis organisation. He's a specialist in content about the administration of professional tennis and tennis coaching for all levels.