As great as Roger Federer’s career has been, there are two things that you can take to the bank when it comes to the Swiss Maestro:
1) Beating David Ferrer in all their head-to-head matchups
2) Taking home the winner’s trophy from the Cincinnati Masters should he happen to find himself in the aforementioned Masters 1000 Final
Unfortunately, the hard working Spaniard had the misfortune of having to deal with both of those scenarios on Sunday afternoon and the result was rather predictable. After failing to close the deal against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga during last week’s Rogers Cup Final in Toronto, the former No. 1 player in the world was not going to allow the chance of winning his first ATP Tour 1000 Event in two years’ time to slip through his fingers for a second consecutive weekend.
Despite struggling through much of the second set and allowing Ferrer to work himself back into the match, Federer was at his clinical best when it mattered on route to the sixth Western and Southern Open title of his career, 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. The win not only gave the thirty-three year old twenty-two Masters 1000 crowns for his career but it also marked the 80th time he has collected a winner’s cheque, which is good enough for third on the all-time list behind Jimmy Connors (109) and Ivan Lendl (94).
For Ferrer it was another tough day at the office, as he fell to a jaw dropping 0-16 against Federer on his career and a rather unimpressive 1-6 in Masters 1000 Finals. In his defence, the No. 6 seed played fairly well but not matter what he tried, it simply was not good enough to get past the seventeen-time Grand Slam winner.
While he did manage to make inroads on Federer’s serve in set number two, following a marathon hold of his own to open the set, the thirty-two year old could not get a sniff in either the first or final sets. Much like his semi-final match against Milos Raonic, Federer held serve with such ease that it was almost laughable.
He has been an absolute treat to look over these last two weeks and as bad as we might feel for a guy like Ferrer, looking the “old man” continue to do his thing is simply priceless. When he is on his game, there is still no one better to look on a tennis court and no matter where he plays, he is adored by fans everywhere. As tennis fans we have all been treated to one hell of a bounce back season from Roger Federer in 2014 and who knows…he might just be able to cap it off with something pretty special come early September.
