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Federer routs Gaudio, gains masters final
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-11-20 15:52
SHANGHAI, China - Two-time defending champion Roger Federer warmed up for his
third consecutive Tennis Masters Cup final with a 6-0, 6-0 rout of Gaston Gaudio
in Saturday's semifinals and will play for the title against David Nalbandian.
This was Federer's first love-and-love victory and the first at the year-ending
championships, which began in 1970.
"I think it's nice to have, but no more than that," he said.
The top-seeded Swiss star showed little emotion as he walked slowly to the
net to shake hands with Gaudio, the 2004 French Open winner.
With his all-time best run of 24 consecutive victories in finals, Federer is
a big favorite to beat Nalbandian, another Argentine, in Sunday's championship.
Nalbandian defeated fifth-seeded Nikolay Davydenko 6-0, 7-5 in the other
semifinal.
Gaudio, seeded seventh, said he'd never lost by such a score. A "double
bagel" — as it's called in tennis parlance — is rare. There was one on the ATP
Tour in 2004 and only six in five years before that.
"There's no excuses," Gaudio said. "I was playing against a guy who is the
best in history on a surface (where) he's so much better than me. Once in a
lifetime it happens — and it happened to me. I'm sad about it, I don't like it,
but there's worse things that can happen."
Federer's emphatic victory restored some dynamic to the season-ending
tournament after a week marred by injuries and withdrawals. It also exposed the
lack of competition — four of the top five players and Australian Open champion
Marat Safin withdrew either before or at the start of the tournament.
Federer, who had been sidelined six weeks because of an injured right ankle,
hobbled into Shanghai thinking he'd be the most likely to withdraw.
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