Group B Match Preview: Roger Federer vs Janko Tipsarevic
In the first Group B match of the World Tour Finals 2012, Roger Federer will take on Janko Tipsarevic. The pair have entered the tournament in contrasting styles: Federer secured his place months ago, while Tipsarevic’s participation was in question as recently as last week, and if Rafael Nadal had been able to play, the Serb wouldn’t be competing in London at all.
Another difference between the two men is their scheduling leading up to this week’s banner event. Whereas Federer pulled out of the Paris Masters in order to rest, sacrificing his number one ranking in the process, Tipsarevic has played non-stop for the last six weeks. Doubts regarding his fitness have been sharpened by the fact that he retired from his most recent match citing injury.
But even a fully fit and refreshed Tipsarevic would face an almighty task against the six-time champion. Federer has won all five career meetings with the Serb, and hasn’t lost a set to him in over four years. Regardless of the court surface, be it slow or fast, clay or hard, the Swiss legend has simply owned his flamboyant opponent, and will be confident of making it six wins in a row when the two men enter the O2 Arena on Tuesday afternoon.
Tipsarevic may have a line from Dostoyevsky tattooed on his left arm - “Beauty will save the world” - but he will have to play ugly if he is to have any chance of upsetting Federer. The Serb’s best hope is to gain as many free points as he can from his formidable serve, while taking time away from Federer with a brutal barrage of heavy groundstrokes. That’s what he did against the 17-time Grand Slam champion at the Australian Open in 2008, when he pushed Federer to 10-8 in the fifth set.
Since that memorable Melbourne moment, however, Federer has won each clash in straight sets, and has rarely been troubled by what Tipsarevic throws at him. Federer has too much variety, and his almost preternatural sense of anticipation means that he is unperturbed by big serving and aggressive baseline bashing. The Swiss simply does everything better than Tipsarevic does, and it would be a shock if he didn’t open his latest World Tour Finals campaign with a routine victory.
