Roger Federer and Kevin Anderson will face off in the third and final robin-round match of Lleyton Hewitt Group at the ATP Finals 2018.
The Roger Federer v Kevin Anderson 2018 ATP Finals robin-round match will be played on Thursday, November 15, at 8:00 pm local time (7:00 GMT). Watch the Roger Federer v Kevin Anderson live streaming here.
Federer v Anderson Head to Head
Federer leads Anderson 4-1 in the head to head tally. The Swiss has dominated their first four encounters, all of which came in the prestigious Masters Tournaments. However, the most recent of those four victories came in 2015 Cincinnati Masters – almost three years ago.
The two players last met in the quarterfinal of the 2018 Wimbledon. Back then, it was Anderson who defeated the Swiss maestro in five exhausting sets to proceed to the semifinal and eventually become the runner-up. That being the only time that the World No. 6 has defeated Federer, he will definitely look forward to repeating that feat again.
Federer is Finally Off to a Good Start
The World No. 3 faced a lot of difficulties in his opening match against Kei Nishikori in London albeit; most of them were of his own making. The Swiss didn’t appear to be himself as he committed silliest of errors and lost his temperament at times to hand over the Japanese an easy win.
However, against Dominic Thiem in his second robin-round fixture, Federer rectified all of those mistakes. He staked his claim for a seventh ATP Finals title by defeating the Austrian 6-2, 6-3, in a little over an hour. In the first set, he broke Thiem’s service twice with ease although; he squandered another break point right in the first game.
The same story was seen in the second set as well. This time, however, the Swiss broke Thiem’s service at 5-3 to take the match. Throughout the course, he never faced even a single break point himself and kept his unforced errors count at 11 – three times less than what he had against Nishikori.
Federer is now on the verge to reach the semifinal of the season finale for the 15th time in 16 appearances. His season so far has been splendid, to say the least. With four titles in and a win-loss of 46-8, the 37-year-old has done an exceptional job to stay in the top 3.
His most noticeable feat was the Australian Open title earlier this year, which he soon followed with the ATP Rotterdam trophy. He was also the runner-up on a couple of occasions – Indian Wells, Cincinnati Masters, and ATP Halle.
Anderson’s Menacing Form in London
Anderson, who is making his first appearance in the ATP Finals, has had the best start possible. The World No. 6 has won both of his matches in London and has effectively got one foot into the semifinal.
He started his campaign against Dominic Thiem, whom he defeated 6-3, 7-6(10). However, the South African was far more competent in his performance against Kei Nishikori. It took Anderson just one hour and six minutes to defeat his Japanese adversary 6-0, 6-1.
Anderson had 10 aces and 12 unforced errors, in contrast to Nishikori’s two and 24 respectively. While the Japanese didn’t do a lot of things wrong, Anderson was simply far too good for him. In the first set, Nishikori was broken thrice, despite putting up a strong fight.
In the second set, the World No. 9 lost his service only twice in quick succession. However, he went down 5-0 very early in the set to hand over Anderson an easy win.
The South African has won a total of two titles – ATP Vienna and New York and has appeared in three finals – Wimbledon, ATP Pune, and ATP Acapulco. With a win-loss record of 45-17, he has worked hard to break into the top 10 this season and reach his career-high singles ranking as the World No. 5 in July. His form of late has been far more clinical, seeing that he reached the penultimate rounds in several tournaments.
Federer v Anderson – Who has the Upper Hand?
In terms of experience, it is definitely the Swiss who has the edge here. Federer is no stranger to playing on big occasions and is backed by an immaculate history spanning across 99 titles. However, Anderson has been remarkably good this season and having defeated Federer once already, he will certainly fancy his chances here.
This is a must-win game for the Swiss and against his 6’8” adversary, he will have to keep his errors on the down low and maintain a strong service game. While this match can go either way, Federer is set to start as the favorite.
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