Roger Federer is taking his battle with Novak Djokovic
for the world number one spot down to the wire as he arrives at the
Paris Masters as the hottest player on Tour.
While the fight for the top
place going to the final tournaments of the season, there is also a
sub-plot set to unravel with the newly refurbished Bercy Arena set to
determine the final eight places for London.
The
Swiss 17-time Grand Slam winner won his 82nd career tournament and
sixth title at Basel on Sunday, extending his winning streak to 12
matches and record for the year to a Tour best of 66 wins against 10
defeats.
Djokovic's lead over Federer has been
slashed to fewer than 500 points with 2,500 up for grabs at Paris and
the season-ending World Tour Finals in London.
On top of that, the 33-year-old
can also pick up further few points when he plays the Davis Cup final for
Switzerland against France which begins on November 21 in Lille.
"It would be very special to reclaim number one," said Federer.
"World No. 1 is what it's all
about in our game and with the year I have had and the amount of finals I
have played, the level of tennis I have played, I am pleased to see
that I have a shot.
"But
having a shot and being there are two separate things. I am sure that
Novak is going to come in very motivated, just after having become a
father. I am very happy for him. There are clearly interesting weeks
ahead."
World number three
Rafael Nadal is out for the season as he gets set to have an appendix
operation while Swiss number two Stan Wawrinka is guaranteed his place
in London and Croat Marin Cilic, ranked seven, qualifies automatically
as US Open champion.
British two-time Grand Slam winner Andy Murray has also hit top form
coming to Paris and outlasted Spaniard Tommy Robredo on Sunday, saving
five match points on the way to his third title the season in 3 hours
20 minutes, the longest ATP final of the year.
The victory for the 27-year-old Scot was his 20th match in five weeks,
but lifted him into fifth in the race to London, ahead of Japan's Kei
Nishikori, Czech Republic's Thomas Berdych and David Ferrer of Spain.
Canada's Milos Raonic, a beaten quarter-finalist against rising Belgian
star David Goffin at Basel, and the player Federer defeated in straight
sets in the final, needs a strong showing coming in at ten, while
Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov is also in the running, starting the week at
number 11.
Federer has had a superb season
and will now be looking to get his extended family installed in the
French capital as well as recovering from his efforts in Basel where he
won a sixth title.
"That's
actually the goal for the next day or two," said the father of two sets
of twins. "It's not a small job," said Federer who has won three of his
past four tournaments.
"I'm
looking forward to Paris, I enjoy playing there," added 2011 winner
Federer who lost a year ago to Djokovic in the semi-finals.
"I
played well last year so let's see how it's gonna go. I play probably
on Wednesday (after a first round bye). I might be a little tired but there's still
an opportunity to recover once we get in the city.
"I'm
playing with confidence, and it's indoors, not exactly a super-grind.
I'm in a section of the draw with a lot of big servers," he added in
reference to the presence of Ivo Karlovic and Raonic on his side of the
draw.
Date: 27th October 2014, Source: AFP
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