October 25, 2010 | By Long Island Tennis Magazine Staff
Roger Federer beat Germany’s Florian Mayer 6-4, 6-3 to win the Stockholm Open on Sunday and match Pete Sampras’ career total of 64 career titles. Since 1968, only Jimmy Connors (109), Ivan Lendl (94) and John McEnroe (77) have won more singles tournaments than Federer and Sampras.
In beating the 47th-ranked Mayer at Royal Tennis Hall, Federer won his third title of the year.
Federer, a 16-time Grand Slam winner, won his 50th match of the year Friday. He became only the fifth man, and the first since Sampras, to win 50 matches in at least nine straight years in the Open era.
Mayer, yet to win an ATP title, was appearing in his third career final and first in four years. He knocked out second-seeded Robin Soderling in the quarterfinals and his unorthodox style also gave Federer difficulty.
Federer has beaten Mayer in all three of their matches without losing a set. Indeed, Federer has lost only five matches against players ranked above 40 in the past five years.
This was Federer’s first tournament title in Sweden and the 18th country in which he has won.
