12BET Tennis News Update 11/14

Federer wins Paris Masters for 69th career title

PARIS (AP)—Roger Federer’s tough season is ending on a high note after the Swiss star beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-1, 7-6 (3) on Sunday to win his first Paris Masters title and the 69th of a glittering career.The 16-time Grand Slam champion had never previously reached the Paris final, but gave the sixth-seeded Frenchman limited opportunities after saving two break points in his opening service game.“I’m just ecstatic to have played so well this week,” Federer said. “I have had many attempts to win Paris and for some reason I wasn’t able to. It’s a special victory.”

The former No. 1 will end the season without a Grand Slam title for the first time since 2002, and his ranking has dropped to No. 4. But Federer has bounced back of late, winning the Swiss Indoors last week before arriving in Paris.“I have had some really tough losses this year, but I kept believing the year wasn’t over,” said Federer. “I’m not playing to prove anything to anybody. I play for myself, I play for Switzerland (and) just to enjoy myself.”Federer took six weeks off after the Davis Cup playoff against Australia in mid-September and feels it paid off.“I always plan in the long term,” Federer said. “I know how grueling it is out there. Even I need my time away.”


His 18th Masters title puts him one ahead of Andre Agassi and one behind all-time leader Rafael Nadal. The 30-year-old heads into the eight-man ATP World Tour Finals in London next week on a 12-match winning streak.“I can still finish this year on a high,” he said. “Now I have a massive highlight coming up in a week’s time.”It was his third title of the season and his only Masters. Top-ranked Novak Djokovic has won five Masters this year, No. 3 Andy Murray two and the second-ranked Nadal one.
But with Djokovic troubled by a nagging shoulder injury, Federer will be confident of defending his title in London.Tsonga improved his serve in the second set, but Federer was simply too strong in the tiebreaker, taking victory on his third match point when Tsonga’s return landed out.