Federer wins sixth World Tour title after thrilling battle with Tsonga
ROGER Federer won a record sixth title at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals with an enthralling 6-3 6-7 (6/8) 6-3 victory over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at the O2 Arena in London.
Having weathered an early storm to win the first set, the 30-year-old, who was looking to go through the tournament unbeaten for a second consecutive year, looked to have victory in his grasp when he served for the match at 5-4 in the second.
But back came Tsonga, levelling and then fighting from 5-2 down in the tie-break to level, only for his opponent to clinch the crucial break in the decider.
Federer, who also became the tournament's oldest winner, previously held the record jointly with Pete Sampras and Ivan Lendl, while his 70th victory in his 100th final, netted the Swiss more than £1 million.
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Federer, who will take a winning streak of 17 matches into next season, said: "I couldn't be more happy and I couldn't be more exhausted."
Tsonga added: "I want to congratulate Roger. Without you, maybe I could get some of your titles, but you are the best."
Incredibly, it was the third Sunday in a row in which Federer and Tsonga had faced each other after the former's victories at the Paris Masters and in the group stages here, and their eighth meeting of the year.
Tsonga was certainly more impressive in his win over Tomas Berdych on Saturday than Federer had been against David Ferrer, and he began in confident fashion.
The Frenchman had simply overpowered the 16-time grand slam champion in becoming the first player to beat him at a grand slam from two sets down at Wimbledon, and the same thing looked possible here as he piled the pressure on in the early stages.
But, crucially, the break did not come and, in the eighth game, Federer made his move, winding up his backhand to earn three break points and taking the second when his opponent netted an attempted drop volley. That left the fourth seed serving for the set and, although Tsonga saved two set points in impressive fashion, there was nothing he could do on the third.
In the second set tie-break, Tsonga trailed 5-2. He clawed back to level before an ace earned Federer his first match point. However, Tsonga powered away a forehand winner.
Another service winner gave him a set point and he took it with a stunning forehand return.
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