Federer eyes more Tour Finals glory in 100th final

LONDON: Roger Federer has set his sights on celebrating his 100th final appearance with a record sixth ATP World Tour Finals title.

Federer is currently tied for most end-of-season titles with Ivan Lendl and Pete Sampras, but he can make the record his own in Sunday's clash with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga or Tomas Berdych.

The Swiss star, who survived a shaky first set to defeat David Ferrer 7-5, 6-3 in the semi-finals at the O2 Arena on Saturday, would also tie Lendl for 39 match wins in the Tour Finals if he can win on Sunday.

Federer already has a host of records to his name, most importantly the 16 Grand Slam singles titles he holds, and Sunday will also be a landmark 100th career final, 69 of which he has won.

That is still a long way short of Jimmy Connors' mark of 163 but for Federer it is a pleasing reminder of the consistent level he has managed to achieve over so many years.

The 30-year-old, who also guaranteed he will retake the number three spot in the rankings from Andy Murray next week, said: "I'm shocked every time that I've reached so many finals or won against so many players or whatever record it is.

"It strikes me and makes me obviously very happy and very proud that I've been able to do it for so many years at the highest of levels.

"It's obviously a special occasion for me playing my 100th final, possibly winning my 70th, winning my sixth at the World Tour Finals.

"There's a lot on the line, and in a way there's not. All I can do is try to play a good match against a dangerous player."

Federer admitted it had been far from easy to subdue Spanish fifth seed Ferrer.

"I thought it was a tough match," he said. "You could clearly see why David beat Murray and Djokovic here. He takes the ball really early, is able to generate great angles off his plays and is super consistent.

"I think he's serving better than he has in the past, although I don't think he had his best serving day against me today, which helped me get into more of the baseline rallies.

"Obviously it was a key 5-4 game for me to hold and then break the next game, then actually break again early on in the second set. That was a crucial 15 or 20 minutes for me. I'm happy I was able to decide the match right there." (AFP)