Sunday 15 October 2017 17:50, UK
Roger Federer maintained his dominance over his great rival Rafael Nadal in 2017 to secure his 27th Masters 1000 title at the Shanghai Masters.
The 19-time Grand Slam champion won 6-4 6-3 in one hour and 12 minutes to secure his fifth successive triumph - fourth in 2017 - over the Spaniard, who was aiming to extend his 16-match winning streak.
Federer, the only player who can stop Nadal ending the year as world No 1, secured his sixth title of the year to close the gap on Nadal at the top of the rankings as the season reaches a conclusion.
The pair renewed their rivalry for a 38th time and despite Nadal leading the overall head to head 23-14, the Spaniard came into the match on the back of losing to Federer on three separate occasions this season - at the Australian Open, Indian Wells and Miami.
Federer enjoyed the quicker start to the match, played under the roof because of Shanghai downpours, against the in-form Nadal, who won the China Open title last week, securing an early break in the opening service game to take the initiative in the encounter.
Nadal, who has never won the Shanghai Masters, struggled to gain a stranglehold on the Federer serve and failed to bring up a break point opportunity during the encounter.
Federer, who has only suffered four defeats this year, sealed the opening set with his fifth ace of the set before underlining his dominance in the match by breaking Nadal's serve in the fifth game of the second set, which included a stunning drop volley winner.
The Swiss great brought up a 5-3 lead in the second set and closed out the match with a third break of the match when Nadal pushed a forehand into the net to see Federer claim a second Shanghai Masters title.
"I played a great match today with hardly any mistakes," Federer told Sky Sports. "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, who survived a stern test of his credentials in the semi-finals by overcoming Juan Martin del Potro in three sets, is yet to make a final decision whether he will play in front of his home supporters in Basel next week but was clear about his ambitions to win the season-ending World Tour Finals in London next month.
He added: "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.
"London is my priority now and I really want to win the World Tour Finals. 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."
Meanwhile, Nadal was left to reflect on a first defeat since achieving the world No 1 ranking in August but has enjoyed a strong Asian hard court swing despite taking a break in the immediate aftermath of his US Open victory at Flushing Meadows.
"It was a very difficult match for me," said Nadal. "He played very fast and he played well. I don't know how many unforced errors he made. I could have done some things better, but that's it. He just played too good. That's my point of view. So congrats to him.
"I played a fantastic tournament, having very good wins. Very pleased the way I played the whole Asian tour for me. Beijing and Shanghai have been a very positive two weeks for me. A lot of points, a lot of victories against great opponents. I come back with very good personal satisfaction the way that I played."
We will have all the action from the Erste Bank Open and Swiss Indoors Basel before the Paris Masters.
The Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan and season-ending extravaganza World Tour Finals at London's O2 in November end another memorable year which will be covered via our website www.skysports.com/tennis with live blogs and updates as the season reaches its climax.
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