Federer wins Shanghai Masters for the first time.

The 33-year-old star finally conquered the Masters 1000 tournament in China, with a tense 7-6(8-6), 7-6(7-2) victory over unseeded French opponent Gilles Simon on Sunday afternoon, October 12.

Roger Federer was considered the clear favorite before the final, especially after his convincing 2-0 victory over Novak Djokovic in the semi-final the day before. Early next week, the 17-time Grand Slam champion will return to the world number two ranking (replacing Nadal) and still has a chance to compete with Djokovic for the number one spot in the ATP rankings at the end of the year. Meanwhile, his 29-year-old French opponent is currently ranked 29th in the world and trailed 2-4 in their head-to-head record before the final in Shanghai. However, Roger Federer needed nearly two hours and two tie-breaks to win his first Shanghai Masters title in his second appearance in the final (his previous loss was to Murray in 2010).

“Winning a title at one of Asia’s biggest tennis tournaments is truly amazing. I was lucky to get through the first round this year thanks to saving five match points. So this championship completes a dream week for me,” Federer said after his victory.

With his signature baseline game, Simon truly posed a significant challenge to the giant of contemporary tennis. Both sets went to tie-breaks, but the outcome differed slightly. In the first set, Federer started slowly and lost his serve early before regaining it. The second set showed Federer had neutralized his opponent's defensive play from the baseline, but he repeatedly missed break opportunities, even saving two set points despite serving in the 12th game of the second set. Simon benefited greatly from Federer's unforced errors. It was a tough match, but Federer fully deserved to win this tournament, even at an age when he could have retired.

Federer's experience and composure (left) helped him overcome the obstacles of age. Photo: AP.

Despite being considered to have little chance of causing an upset in the final, Simon still made a good impression with a very impressive start. The Frenchman quickly won the first game, when Federer had the advantage of serving but made three unforced errors. The second game also went quickly with a clean win for Simon serving. Federer continued to appear confused by his opponent's defensive style of play from the baseline.

The two players then exchanged serves until the tenth game, when Federer broke back to level the score at 5-5 – a crucial point for the "Express Train's" comeback in this match. Simon served and took a 15-0 lead, but a double fault, two out-of-bounds shots, and a net shot handed Federer victory in the crucial game of the set, a game in which he had a strong chance of winning.

This is Federer's fourth victory of 2014. Photo: Reuters.

In the next service game, Federer didn't allow his opponent to win a single point, taking a 6-5 lead. Continuing his momentum, the Swiss player had two set-point opportunities in Simon's service game. But the Frenchman also had an excellent short game to save both points and level the score at 6-6 with an ace. Known as the king of tie-breaks, Federer had to showcase all his skill and mental fortitude to secure the 8-6 victory.

The second set saw Federer take a much more proactive approach, but Simon put up a fierce resistance, resulting in a dramatic final. In the third game of this final set, Federer had two opportunities to win his opponent's service game, but Simon saved both. In the seventh game, the Swiss player again had a chance to break serve but missed it. In the eleventh game, Federer let the victory slip away despite leading 30-0, and then made a series of errors, allowing Simon to take a 6-5 lead. Federer then had the advantage of serving, but he himself fell behind 15-40 before saving two set points to level the score at 6-6 and take the match to a second tie-break. This time, Federer demonstrated his dominance with a 7-2 victory, thus closing out the final after one hour and 53 minutes.

Nguyen Phat