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Federer falls to Goffin at ATP Finals

Roger Federer’s bid for a record seventh end of season championships ended on Saturday when he lost in three sets to the seventh David Goffin. The 36-year-old Swiss went into the semi-final boasting six consecutive wins over the 26-year-old Belgian.

Roger Federer was seeking a seventh crown at the end of season championships.
Roger Federer was seeking a seventh crown at the end of season championships. Reuters/Toby Melville
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But after sweeping through the first set 6-2, Goffin started to chance his arm.

He broke Federer early in the second set and held on to claim it 6-3. In the decider, he took Federer’s service to lead 2-1 and dug in for a 3-1 advantage.

The 36-year-old had opportunities to regain parity at 3-3 but could not convert.

“Maybe my game dropped a little bit because he was playing better,” said Federer. “Maybe I never really reached my best level. So it’s pretty disappointing. But at the end he did play extremely well and he was the better player on the court.”

Federer was in his 14th semi-final in his 15th appearance at the end of season championships. He advanced to the last four unbeaten in the group stages. But the voyage ended partly through his own timidity and Goffin’s boldness.

“I started to feel the ball better at the end of the first set,” said Goffin. “So I wanted to be more aggressive as soon as I had a chance to go for the shot from the return and then go for my shot after my serve. That was the key.”

His win takes him to a final on Sunday at the O2 Arena against sixth seed Grigor Dimitrov or eighth seed Jack Sock. Goffin also becomes only the sixth player to beat both Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer in the same tournament.

The last man to achieve the feat was Novak Djokovic on his way to the 2015 title.

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