World number one Roger Federer racked up his 10th title of the
season with a ruthless 7-5 6-1 6-0 win over Chile's Fernando
Gonzalez in the final of the two-million-euro Madrid Masters on
Sunday.
The 25-year-old Swiss weathered an early storm from the 10th
seed but found his rhythm in the second set and then powered his
way to victory as Gonzalez folded under the pressure.
It was Federer's fourth Masters title of the year and the 12th
of his career, taking him one clear of Pete Sampras into second
place behind Andre Agassi who heads the all-time list with 17.
The victory, Federer's first in Madrid, extended his winning
streak to 19 matches and took his tally of victories for the year
to 82. He is the first player since Ivan Lendl in 1982 to win 80
matches two years in a row.
"I played well, I didn't drop a set all week and I really turned
it on from the semis on," said Federer after becoming the first
player in the Open era to win 10 titles or more in three successive
seasons.
Asked if he was on course to become the best player in history,
he replied with a smile: "I am the best right now but I don't know
about the best in history. We will never know unless I break all
the records before I finish.
"I'm five years away from that though. There's a long way to go
but I'm in the fast lane. I feel I'm a more steady player and
physically I've improved too and (am) not scared of any five
setters."
The Swiss had won all seven of his previous encounters with
Gonzalez but he looked a little rusty at the start of the opening
set and made some uncharacteristic unforced errors.
FIRST FINAL
Gonzalez, in his first Masters final, still appeared to be on a
high after his emphatic victory over Tomas Berdych on Saturday as
he put Federer under pressure with some pounding forehands but it
was not enough to break the Federer serve.
Federer, who had crushed fourth seed David Nalbandian in his
semi-final, then began his customary push at the business end of
the set, breaking at 6-5 up to take the opener despite a scare when
he turned his ankle.
Having drawn the sting from Gonzalez, Federer stepped up another
gear in the second set, breaking in the fourth game to go 3-1
up.
The Swiss hit the lines and gave the Chilean no chance as he
rattled through the next three games to take the set in just 26
minutes.
He picked up where he had left off at the start of the third,
breaking in the first and third games to turn the screw on the
world number 10.
Federer raced to a 5-0 lead and although Gonzalez mounted a
brief rearguard action in the final game the Chilean could do
nothing to prevent a whitewash in the final set.
Gonzalez's only consolation is that his performance in Madrid
has pushed him up into contention for a spot in next month's
Masters Cup in Shanghai and he is now just 30 points behind Tommy
Robredo in ninth place.
"The first set was really close but after that it was different
and he passed over me," said Gonzalez. "Maybe I wasn't at my best
but I couldn't do anything. When Federer plays well it is very
difficult to play against him."
(Reuters October 23, 2006)