Federer through after victory

Roger Federer has quailified for the
semi-finals of the ATP World Tour
Finals as he maintained up his perfect
career record against David Ferrer with
a straight sets win.
Federer improved to 14-0 against the
Spaniard as he ground out a 6-4 7-6
(7/5) victory at the O2 Arena in
London.
He did not have things all his own way
against Ferrer, who defeated Juan
Martin del Potro in his opening match,
but came through in an hour and 49
minutes to stay on course to defend
his title at the event.
Ferrer headed into the clash on an 11-
match winning streak following his
triumph at the Paris Masters last week
but, having managed only three sets in
his previous meetings with Federer,
made a poor start as his Swiss rival
broke en route to an early 3-0 lead.
But that did not tell the whole story as
the world number two was forced to
fend off six break points in doing so
and they were back level after Ferrer
finally took his eighth chance.
As so often, though, Federer moved up
a gear just when he needed to and,
with his opponent serving to stay in the
first set at 4-5, he emphatically broke to
love to take control of the contest.
Ferrer had further opportunities at the
start of the second set but once again
could not take them, Federer saving
two more break points.
The set remained tight throughout and
Ferrer stayed with his opponent all the
way until an inevitable tie-break, but
once there an error on the sixth point
proved crucial.
Federer had been immaculate on serve
and took his third match point when a
Ferrer return dropped long to become
the first singles player through to the
last four.