Story highlights
Roger Federer wins ATP World Tour Finals at O2 Arena in London
Federer beats Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France in his 100th career final
Record sixth win in season-ending finals for the Swiss star
Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor win doubles title
Roger Federer fended off an audacious comeback by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to win the ATP World Tour Finals for a record sixth time in London Sunday.
A pumped up Federer wrapped up a 6-3 7-6 6-3 victory over Tsonga in his 100th career final to end 2011 on a conspicuous high note.
Consecutive titles in Basel, Paris, where he also beat Tsonga in the final, and at the season-ending championships have seen the Swiss maestro reclaim the No.3 spot in the world from Britain’s Andy Murray.
But he had to withstand a mid-match onslaught from his French opponent, who broke Federer as he served for the match at a set and 5-4 to the good.
Tsonga also saved a match point in the second set tiebreaker before leveling at one set all.
But as in the first set, Federer broke Tsonga again in the eighth game of the decider and made no mistake when he served for the championship for the second time.
“I couldn’t be more happy my season ends this way. I’m exhausted, Jo sapped every last energy out of me today,” Federer said.
His triumph lifted the Swiss maestro out of a tie with Ivan Lendl and Pete Sampras for titles at the ATP’s end-of-season finale. It was his 70th career crown.
It will also compensate for failing to add to his 16 grand slam crowns this season as Novak Djokovic, who failed to make it out of the round robin group stages in London, dominated with three.
Rafael Nadal, who beat Federer in the final to win the French Open title, was also eliminated at that stage as he lost to Tsonga in a deciding match.
Earlier, third seeds Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor beat the Polish pair Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski 7-5 6-3 to win the ATP World Tour Finals doubles title.
