Roger Federer became the first player to qualify for the semi-finals of the ATP World Tour Finals with victory over David Ferrer. The six-time champion made sure of advancing to the last four with a 6-4 7-6 (7-5) win. Federer has had two straight-sets wins so far and plays Juan Martin del Potro in his last Group B match on Saturday. In the other group match Del Potro eased past Janko Tipsarevic 6-0 6-4.
"I thought the match was great, good intensity," said Federer. "I definitely needed a good second serve, especially in the first set. I didn't have that many serves in play the way I wanted to - either the rhythm was off a bit or I wasn't pushing enough with the legs, or whatever it might have been. But I think also credit to Ferrer for being a great return player, getting back a lot of good returns on good serves."
Federer, a winner of this tournament for the last two years, has made easy progress again and, despite Ferrer's recent 11-match winning streak, the Swiss made sure that the head-to-head record of 0-13 was going to be kept. After breaking the Spaniard's serve at the first opportunity, Federer faced seven break points in three games before Ferrer managed to get back into the set at 3-3. The Swiss champion secured the set with a love break in game 10 and Federer gradually improved his game from that point on.
The second set came down to a tie-break and Federer's serve proved the dominant shot as he converted his third match point after one hour and 48 minutes. Ferrer had nine missed break points: "I had a lot of chances to break his serve. I couldn't do it. When he had one break point against me, he made it. With these players - if I don't take my chance, I don't win the important points - it's very difficult to win these matches."
Ferrer's hopes now rest on his final match against Tipsarevic while Del Potro must beat Federer to make the last four. Federer is priced at 2/1 to win the tournament at Bet365 while Ferrer is priced at 14/1.
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