Posted at 6:42 a.m., Sunday, October 28, 2007
Tennis: Federer clinches No. 1 again with Swiss victory
By NESHA STARCEVIC
AP Sports Writer
Federer joins Pete Sampras, Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe and Ivan Lendl as the only men's players to end the season ranked No. 1 four or more times since the inception of the ATP rankings in 1973.
Federer, who had failed to win his home tournament six straight times before winning last year, has now captured a tour-high seventh title of the season.
He broke on a forehand error by Nieminen to lead 2-0, and closed out the first set with a volley in 27 minutes.
Nieminen, playing his first final of the year, missed a break point to lead the second set 2-0. He won two straight service games to love and had Federer under pressure in the eighth game.
But Nieminen served a double-fault in the next game to face a break point, and then put a forehand wide to give Federer a decisive 5-4 lead. When Nieminen's return went long, Federer held a match point and closed it out with a backhand volley winner.
After losing the Madrid Masters final to David Nalbandian last week, Federer dropped a set in his opening match in Basel before winning the next four in straight sets. He is now 7-4 in finals this year and has 52 career titles.
