Tennis: Federer beats great rival Nadal to win Shanghai Masters

Roger Federer won his sixth title of the year in Shanghai. (AFP)

LONDON: Roger Federer admitted he is still in a state of shock at the stellar year he and Rafael Nadal are having after beating his arch-rival to claim the Shanghai Masters.
The Swiss sensation brushed Nadal aside 6-4, 6-3 to get his hands on his 94th title, drawing him level with Ivan Lendl. It was his fifth victory in a row against Nadal and once again underlined that even at the ripe old age of 36 when in full flow there is no one better.
This year has seen Federer and Nadal dominate — both supposedly way past their best — with the pair dividing the four Grand Slams between themselves.
And having claimed his sixth title of 2017 the Swiss revealed he did not expect both him and Nadal to experience such great seasons in the autumn of their careers.
“We didn’t think maybe we were going to have the year we did, I definitely didn’t,” Federer said.
“It’s nice to share this court with you today and I hope there are more to come in the tournaments we’ve got left.
“It’s been a pleasure playing against you here today.”
Such has been his fine form all year the sight of yet another Federer masterclass was anything but a shock. Even though he is world No.1 Nadal was swatted aside, and the Swiss revealed he thought it was one of his best performances of the year.
“I played a great match with hardly any mistakes,” Federer said.
“It was very clear for me how I had to play and I was able to do it for the one hour and 12 minutes that I was out there.
“I started perfectly and kept the pressure on before creating more opportunities on the return, stayed on the offensive, and then also pull back at the right times to make sure Rafa could make some errors on his own and that is exactly what happened.”
Federer is the only man who can stop Nadal, a winner of this year’s French and US Opens, from ending the season as world No.1. And he warned Nadal that grabbing that top spot is now his main aim for the rest of the season.
“I am actually surprised that I have won here — with all that has happened since Montreal with my back — it is just nice to see that I am back again,” he said.
“London is my priority now and I really want to win the World Tour Finals (there). I am very excited to have had the year that I have had and everything that comes from here is a bonus.
“Finishing the year as world number one is a long shot, and I don’t think it will happen but if I play like this, who knows? Maybe I will get close again.”