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LONDON: Roger Federer was declared best on Sunday night for the opening game of his 16th ATP final, but defeated his lines in a 7-6 loss ( 4) 6-3 against Kei Nishikori.
After Kevin Anderson defeated Dominic Thiem in the support match of the day, crowds gathered in the O2 Arena and prepared for a new Federer masterclass.
What they had instead were 34 unresolved errors that flew beyond the frame of the great Swiss while his timing was escaping, and the sight of a Fetcher in battle with the referee.
After being buried early to stay with Federer, Nishikori escaped with the match to inflict a defeat for the first time in a row in the finals of the ATP on the Grand Slam winner 20 times .
To sum up Federer's night, he received a warning from referee Damian Steiner in the 12th match of the first run when he threw a ball into the crowd.
"He thought I was angry, I was not, now I'm angry because I lost it," Federer, who will face Thiem on Tuesday in a match that 's he will have to win to revive his hopes of reaching the semi-finals of the event for a 15th time.
Thiem was dominated by South African debutant Anderson in the opening set of the Lleyton Hewitt Group opener.
The Austrian made a match in the second set and was involved in a decisive game, but dropped from 6-3 to 7-6 (10).
Federer was far from his best, but he was still looking for Nishikori where he wanted at the first trade in a match dubbed the "Uniqlo derby" after his recent move to the same Japanese supplier of clothing as his opponent.
Nishikori looked grim when he was serving at 5-6 and was falling behind on 0-30 with a dismal volley, but he was squirming with the help of an improvised lapel boot that had caught Federer on the heels and provoked the ball. high in the bleachers more in frustration than anger.
Even though he downplayed the warning that followed, Federer was not himself in the decisive game. He dropped from 6 to 1 with a series of errors before returning to 6-4.
A forehand offered Nishikori the opening score.
Nishikori made a double fault to Federer during the first break of the match at the beginning of the second set, but Federer found the advantage again in the next match when he again exchanged words with him. chair umpire after taking too long to challenge.
Federer lacked his usual panache and gave up serving again to lead 4-2 and Nishikori was calmly 5-3 to win – his first on Federer since 2014.
"I'm happy to win, it's never easy to play with my idol, it's always a big challenge against him, so it's great to win today," he said. declared on the court the world number nine Nishikori, who will face Anderson.
"I had to change something against him, I lost him twice against him in two months." I played tennis well, using the forehand more and more aggressive and that's it. well spent in the second set. "
Anderson, the Wimbledon finalist, was arguably the most impressive artist of the day since he became the first South African since Wayne Ferreira in 1995 to qualify for the ATP finals.
He repelled Thiem's ferocious counterattack, saving a few points in the deciding game of the second set before taking his first 13th as-celebratory win by inviting the crowd to join a "happy birthday" verse to his wife Kelsey. .
The group Gustavo Kuerten, which includes the world number one and tournament favorite Novak Djokovic, Marin Cilic, Alexander Zverev and the American debutant John Isner, will start Monday.
(Report by Martyn Herman, edited by Ian Chadband and Pritha Sarkar)
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