LONDON: Roger Federer admitted he is still in a state of shock at the stellar year he and Rafael Nadal are having after beating his arch-rival to claim the Shanghai Masters.
The Swiss sensation brushed Nadal aside 6-4, 6-3 to get his hands on his 94th title, drawing him level with Ivan Lendl. It was his fifth victory in a row against Nadal and once again underlined that even at the ripe old age of 36 when in full flow there is no one better.
This year has seen Federer and Nadal dominate — both supposedly way past their best — with the pair dividing the four Grand Slams between themselves.
And having claimed his sixth title of 2017 the Swiss revealed he did not expect both him and Nadal to experience such great seasons in the autumn of their careers.
“We didn’t think maybe we were going to have the year we did, I definitely didn’t,” Federer said.
“It’s nice to share this court with you today and I hope there are more to come in the tournaments we’ve got left.
“It’s been a pleasure playing against you here today.”
Such has been his fine form all year the sight of yet another Federer masterclass was anything but a shock. Even though he is world No.1 Nadal was swatted aside, and the Swiss revealed he thought it was one of his best performances of the year.
“I played a great match with hardly any mistakes,” Federer said.
“It was very clear for me how I had to play and I was able to do it for the one hour and 12 minutes that I was out there.
“I started perfectly and kept the pressure on before creating more opportunities on the return, stayed on the offensive, and then also pull back at the right times to make sure Rafa could make some errors on his own and that is exactly what happened.”
Federer is the only man who can stop Nadal, a winner of this year’s French and US Opens, from ending the season as world No.1. And he warned Nadal that grabbing that top spot is now his main aim for the rest of the season.
“I am actually surprised that I have won here — with all that has happened since Montreal with my back — it is just nice to see that I am back again,” he said.
“London is my priority now and I really want to win the World Tour Finals (there). I am very excited to have had the year that I have had and everything that comes from here is a bonus.
“Finishing the year as world number one is a long shot, and I don’t think it will happen but if I play like this, who knows? Maybe I will get close again.”
Tennis: Federer beats great rival Nadal to win Shanghai Masters
Tennis: Federer beats great rival Nadal to win Shanghai Masters
Own goal enough for Al-Ahli as Matchday 24 win keeps pressure on Al-Nassr
- Al-Ahli eke out 1-0 win over Al-Riyadh to keep pressure on Al-Nassr
- Milan Borjan own goal separated the sides at Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium
RIYADH: Matchday 24 of the Saudi Pro League kicked off on Thursday, less than 24 hours after the conclusion of the delayed Matchday 10. With the FIFA Arab Cup, World Cup Qualifiers and FIFA World Cup sandwiching the 2025/26 campaign, resting periods have been few and far between outside the international breaks.
With fixtures coming thick and fast, Al-Ahli opted to rest Riyad Mahrez and Enzo Millot for their clash with Al-Riyadh in the capital. Ramadan has further challenged the league schedule, with Matthias Jaissle’s side only arriving in Riyadh at 5:30pm — just hours before kick-off.
With their previous outing against Damac still dominating conversation, Jaissle was keen to ensure his players did not fall into the same trap — namely, being caught off guard by an opponent’s unexpectedly proactive style.
To his relief, Al-Ahli were largely in control this time. Yet the absence of Mahrez limited their creative spark. Relying heavily on Wenderson Galeno down the left, Al-Riyadh did well to crowd the Brazilian and deny him space to operate.
The bane of any expansive side is a compact 5-4-1, and that is precisely how Al-Riyadh’s recently appointed Brazilian manager Mauricio Dulac set his team up. A long-time assistant to former Al-Riyadh coach Odair Hellmann, this marks Dulac’s first managerial role.
Al-Ahli’s attacking routes were severely restricted throughout the first half. Al-Riyadh denied them the opportunity to press high, Mahrez’s trademark diagonals were absent, and finding Ivan Toney in the six-yard box proved a difficult task.
On the rare occasions the visitors broke the defensive line, Milan Borjan stood firm in goal — there was no getting past the Canadian.
That was until first-half stoppage time. Al-Ahli had one more weapon in their arsenal: set-pieces. A lofted delivery from Galeno’s free-kick met the head of Roger Ibañez, who nodded the ball towards goal. Borjan pushed it away, but it was too late — the ball crossed the line.
VAR intervened within seconds. Ibañez was a shoulder offside, and the opener was chalked off. It was a notable twist, particulary as the simultaneous fixture between Al-Fateh and Damac in Al-Ahsa featured a celebration aimed squarely at Al-Ahli and VAR.
Earlier in the week, Damac equalised late against Al-Ahli via Yakou Méïté, only for the goal to be overturned. Méïté reacted angrily and lashed out at referees, but Al-Ahli escaped with the three points. Méïté followed up with a goal against Al-Fateh, and celebrated by mimicking the referee’s VAR signal.
Back in Riyadh, Al-Ahli returned for the second half with renewed intensity. Zakaria Hawsawi grew more adventurous from left-back, threading lofted balls over the Al-Riyadh defence.
In the 53rd minute, he found Toney behind the last defender, but the Englishman’s volley was adeptly saved by Borjan. Five minutes later, Galeno latched onto Hawsawi’s cross and thought he had broken the deadlock — only for the linesman’s flag to rise once again.
Al-Ahli pushed, but as time ticked away, it seemed the coveted winner would elude them. However, once again, set pieces proved decisive.
In the 75th minute, a corner from Saleh Abu Al-Shamat was parried by Borjan, only for his effort to be bundled into his own net, sending the travelling supporters into a frenzy.
After last week’s scare, Al-Ahli knew they had to finish the job. Cue Ibañez, who surged forward from deep before slipping the ball through to Toney to seal the game with what would have been his 24th goal of the season. The run itself deserved a goal, but Toney was flagged inches offside.
Despite another difficult outing, Al-Ahli did enough to secure a clean sheet and grind out a 1-0 victory to move top on 59 points — one ahead of Al-Nassr, who are yet to play this weekend.
Elsewhere, Méïté’s equaliser was later cancelled out by a 77th-minute Mourad Batna penalty, in a match that saw fans commemorate him for surpassing 100 goal contributions with Al-Fateh.
Batna had earlier missed from the spot to the frustation of the home fans, but Al-Fateh’s undefeated streak against Damac at home remains intact as the encounter ended 1-1.
Saudi Pro League action resumes on Friday, with Al-Hazem hosting Al-Ettifaq, Al-Ittihad welcoming Al-Khaleej, and one of Riyadh’s top derbies in Al-Shabab and Al-Hilal. All games kick-off at 10:00pm, in the league’s unified Ramadan schedule.
