Federer Beats Simon for First Career Shanghai Crown

Roger Federer defeated Gilles Simon 7-6(6), 7-6(2) to capture the Shanghai Masters title on Sunday. The tournament in Shanghai was one of the few that Federer had yet to win in his career, and Sunday’s victory marks the 23rd ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title of his career.

The victory also bumps him back up to number two in the world rankings ahead of Rafael Nadal. He still trails top-ranked Novak Djokovic by a significant margin, but did beat him in the semifinals prior to the championship versus Simon.

“It makes me very happy winning here because this tournament means a lot to me. I’ve always enjoyed coming here,” said Federer. “I’ve come close a couple of times, but I’ve always wanted to win it as a Masters 1000. I feel unbelievable prestige to win this event.”

Federer started slow in this one as Simon jumped out to a 5-3 lead in the opening set thanks in part to a few unforced errors on the Swiss’ part. Federer would draw even at five and the set was thrust into a tiebreaker. The two would go back and forth in the breaker before a couple of aces from Federer followed by a beautiful backhand winner gave the first set to the 33-year old.

In the second set, Simon did everything he could to frustrate Federer. He saved a number of break points including crucial ones in the third and seventh games. Once again, the set would head into a tiebreaker, but this time there would be no back and forth. Federer quickly raced out to a 6-2 lead in the breaker and wrapped the match up on his serve.

“He was just more opportunistic. We had a close match. I had a set point in the first, two in the second. It’s just a few points deciding it, and he was always really good on these points,” said Simon. “He played some great shots. He’s putting a lot of pressure. He’s always showing you that he is ready to be really aggressive on every shot. So he keeps you under pressure.”

Federer finished with 36 winners to 21 unforced errors, and won 24 of the 35 points at the net as he was the much more aggressive player all-match long.

He takes home 1000 points in the Emirates ATP Rankings to go along with the nearly $800,000 in prize money.