Roger Federer Fights Past Goffin In Shanghai Tennis, Berrettini Wins Big Battle In ATP Race To London

By Ricky Dimon

Roger Federer got a tougher test from David Goffin than he did at the U.S. Open, but the 38-year-old Swiss still got the job done with a 7-6(7), 6-4 victory in the third round of the Rolex Shanghai Masters on Thursday. Federer fought off five set points in the opening frame of play and eventually prevailed in one hour and 54 minutes.

The 20-time Grand Slam champion had lost only five total games in his previous four sets against Goffin, a stretch that included a 6-2, 6-2, 6-0 beatdown at the U.S. Open.

“I never really felt like I had the upper hand over David today,” Federer assessed. “I thought he did a really good job. He was so much better than at the U.S. Open.

“It was really him that was able to, I don’t want to say dictate play, but I think he was very clear in his shot selection,” Federer said of Goffin. “I thought he took really a lot of good decisions, and he was super fast on his feet today, which I think made it really hard for me to get my freebies and winners off the baseline, because he was getting to all of them.”

“It was a really tough match today. I think that first set maybe ended up being key.”

Next up for Federer is Alexander Zverev, a 6-0, 7-6(4) winner over Andrey Rublev. With that win, Zverev moved back into position to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals, an event he won last fall.

In a crucial battle for London positioning, Matteo Berrettini got the best of Roberto Bautista Agut 7-6(5), 6-4 on Thursday in Shanghai. Berrettini still trails both Bautista Agut, but he is within 120 points of the Spaniard and 70 of the German.

Draw
Novak Djokovic…..bye…..d. Shapovalov…..d. Isner
Stefanos Tsitsias……bye…..d. Auger-Aliassime…..d. Hurkacz

Daniil Medvedev…..bye…..d. Norrie…..d. Pospisil
Fabio Fognini…..d. Querrey…..d. Murray…..d. Khachanov

Matteo Berrettini…..d. Struff…..d. Garin…..d. Bautista Agut
Dominic Thiem…..bye…..d. Carreno Busta…..d. Basilashvili

Alexander Zverev…..bye…..d. Chardy…..d. Rublev
Roger Federer…..bye…..d. Ramos-Vinolas…..d. Goffin

Seeds
1. Novak Djokovic: vs. Tsitsipas in QF
2. Roger Federer: vs. Zverev in QF
3. Daniil Medvedev: vs. Fognini in QF4. Dominic Thiem: vs. Berrettini in QF5. Alexander Zverev: vs. Federer in QF
6. Stefanos Tsitsipas: vs. Djokovic in QF
7. Karen Khachanov: l. to Fognini in R3
8. Roberto Bautista Agut: l. to Berrettini in R39. Gael Monfils: l. to Hurkacz in R210. Fabio Fognini: vs. Medvedev in QF11. Matteo Berrettini: vs. Thiem in QF
12. Borna Coric: l. to Rublev in R1
13. David Goffin: l. to Federer in R3
14. Diego Schwartzman: l. to Pospisil in R115. Nikoloz Basilashvili: l. to. Thiem in R3
16. John Isner: l. to Djokovic in R3

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on twitter at @Dimonator.