By Chris Oddo | Tuesday November 13, 2018
Roger, revived.
After falling rather meekly on Day 1 of the ATP Finals Roger Federer righted the ship and rolled past Dominic Thiem, 6-2, 6-3, to ensure that he’d have a shot to qualify for the semifinals when Group Lleyton Hewitt finishes its run of round robin play on Thursday at the 02 Arena in London.
Federer dropped just six points on serve and improved to 2-2 lifetime against Thiem. He did not face a break point and broke four times on seven opportunities to win against very little resistance from the Austrian.
“I’m very happy that I showed a reaction after last match against Kei,” Federer said. “I’m happy with my attitude, I’m happy with how I played."
Thiem’s loss in straight sets means that Kevin Anderson did not qualify for the semifinals despite owning a 2-0 record with zero sets dropped. All four players are still in the hunt, and the qualifiers for the semifinals could end up being decided by percentage of games won in round robin play.
The Swiss has won 21 games and lost 18. Nishikori has won just 14 and lost 21 after being thrashed 6-0, 6-1 by Kevin Anderson on Tuesday.
Anderson has won 25 of 35 games and appears to be a lock to go through even if he loses.
Federer finished with just 11 unforced errors on Tuesday, which compared very favorably to the 34 he committed against Kei Nishikori on Sunday.
The six-time ATP Finals champion improved to 16-0 in his second round robin match at the ATP Finals. He owns a 56-14 record at the ATP Finals overall.
“I love playing her in London,” Federer told the crowd. “And I reminded myself of what a privilege it is to play here at the O2, and I hope it showed a bit.”
Federer won 46 of 76 points of four or less shots; he won 16 of 26 rallies that lasted longer than four shots.
Federer set the tone early when he broke for 2-1 in the opener when a Thiem forehand sailed well long.
Thiem netted a backhand volley after coming in on a second-serve serve-and-volley play to get broken for 5-2 in set one.
The 25-year-old World No.8 was broken again in the first game of the second set when another forehand sailed long, and he never recovered. The Austrian chipped in 34 unforced errors in total to fall to 0-2 in round robin play in London. He was bitten by a meek 50 percent first-serve percentage and some untimely double-faults.
Federer improved to 47-9 on the season and 3-5 against the Top 10.