Roger Federer notched his third consecutive straight-sets victory over hard-serving Milos Raonic on Saturday in Cincinnati, 6-2, 6-3, to claim a spot in the Western and Southern Open final where he’ll meet David Ferrer.
Federer jumped on Raonic from the onset, breaking the Canadian in his first service game, then rallying from 40-15 down to break again in the eighth game to claim the set.
“Round by round I’m playing better. It’s what I like to see from myself,” said Federer. “I hope I have something left for the final tomorrow.”
After rallying back from 40-0 love down in the eighth game of the second set, Federer would use his chip backhand return to great effect, dropping one right on the line to take Raonic out of position and force the error which gave the Swiss a break for 5-3 and a chance to serve for the match.
He would hold, closing the match with a service winner to the backhand side of Raonic that the Canadian netted. Federer finished with 19 winners against only 8 unforced errors for the match. Federer will face David Ferrer in Sunday’s final.
Though the Swiss maestro owns a 15-0 record against Ferrer, he’s well aware that the Spaniard is a dangerous opponent regardless.
“He beat Rafa in Monaco,” said Federer. “We played against each other last week, and I was close to losing that one especially early in the third set he was the better player.” Federer will bid for his sixth Cincinnati title and his 80th career title against Ferrer. Notes, Numbers>>>
Federer became the first player in ATP history to earn 300 Masters wins earlier in the week. On Sunday he’ll bid for his 22nd Masters 1000 title, which is second only to Rafael Nadal’s 27.
Federer has never lost a Cincinnati final. Sunday’s final is the first ATP Masters final to feature two players aged over 30 (Federer is 33 and Ferrer is 32). It’s also the first Cincinnati final in the Open Era to feature two 30-plus aged players.
tennisnow.com
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