ATP Finals: Roger Federer excited for winner-takes-all clash vs Novak Djokovic after beating Matteo Berrettini

Revenge? Roger Federer says it's "water under the bridge" when he faces Novak Djokovic.
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Joe Krishnan12 November 2019

Roger Federer has insisted he is "excited" to face Novak Djokovic on Thursday after keeping his hopes of a seventh ATP Finals title alive.

The 38-year-old beat Matteo Berrettini in straight sets to stay in contention for qualification ahead of Thursday's clash with his friendly rival Djokovic, who faces Dominic Thiem on Tuesday evening.

Federer will no doubt be watching that clash with a keen eye, with Thiem able to qualify for the semi-finals if he beats Djokovic.

That scenario would place even more importance on the final group fixture, with Federer and Djokovic left to battle it out for the final qualifying spot. If Djokovic wins, Federer may be left to sweat over Thiem's final match with Berrettini.

Ahead of his first clash with Djokovic since losing to him in an epic five-hour marathon in the Wimbledon final, the Swiss admitted it took him "days, weeks" to get over it but says he never wanted to avoid playing the Serbian in London.

Federer and Djokovic played out one of the best Wimbledon finals of all-time Photo: AFP via Getty Images
AFP via Getty Images

"I think it [the pain] has all flushed away from my side. A lot of water has gone under the bridge since then now," he said in his post-match conference after beating Berrettini.

"We have played a lot of matches since and I think we can both look back at a great match. I think we both can take away some confidence from the match - him obviously a lot, me maybe a tad bit less.

"At the end of the day, I wasn't hoping for him [Djokovic] not to be in my section or in my draw. I didn't hope I was never going to play him again. Actually, it's good for me to play him again, and maybe that all helps to get a chance to get him back or whatever it is.

"It took me a few days, couple weeks at most, to get over the Wimbledon loss. I still thought I played a great final and a great tournament, beating Rafa [Nadal in the semi-finals] there along the way.

"But I'm excited playing against him. I'm excited to see how he's going to play tonight as well. It's definitely going to give me some more information about what to expect. But other than that, I think I need to focus on my game, what I do best. And regardless of what I need to do, I just hope I play well."

In Pictures | ATP Finals 2019

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After improving immeasurably from his first match to beat Berrettini 7-6, 6-3, Federer identified where he had gone wrong against Thiem. "[I had to] not miss the serves like I did against Thiem, [I had to] make those first serves. And I did," he said.

"That's maybe what the difference was against Dominic. I'm not sure. But I was missing the spots, going through second serves on break point, and I felt like Dominic made me pay for it. Plus, I felt like he was trying to actually do something on the return on my second serves."

In their last meeting at Wimbledon, Berrettini memorably thanked Federer "for the tennis lesson" after winning just five games against the 20-time Grand Slam winner. But after a much closer contest at the O2 Arena, the 23-year-old says he was proud with how he competed against Federer despite his latest loss.

"Today, I was nervous," Berrettini said. "It's normal to feel that, but at Wimbledon, I wanted to be there so bad and I couldn't feel really myself in the court because I was just enjoying what was happening.

Berrettini says he's just 'proud' to be playing against the best  Photo: Getty Images
Getty Images

"Today I was more ready. I knew what I had to do to try to win the match. I was serving really well. At Wimbledon, my serve wasn't working at all. I was more ready and I think the more you play against these kind of guys, the top three guys, the more you get used to them a little bit. You have the chance to know them better. That's helpful.

"I'm playing against the best guys on the planet and maybe the best guys ever, so I'm proud of what I'm doing. I'm proud how I'm facing these kind of situations.

"I played a good match also against Novak, even if the score was not that good. But for sure I'm learning. And these kind of losses, they will help me in the future to get better."

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