17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer is happy and relieved to have secured a place at the ATP World Tour Finals for the 12th consecutive year. The 32-year old Swiss star has routinely made it to the elite season-ending event in the past but mixed results this year have jeopardized his chances of qualifying. Federer won his second round match at the Paris Masters this week against Kevin Anderson to assure himself a place in London.
“I’m just happy right now to have made it again,” said Federer. “It’s definitely somewhat of a highlight of the season for me after having a tough few months to still make it to the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.
“It’s great news actually, because it’s one of the goals I set myself at the beginning of the season. So it’s nice achieving things this year, because many things I couldn’t achieve that I wanted to.”
Federer now joins Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, David Ferrer, Juan Martin Del Potro and Tomas Berdych. There are still two berths available after Wimbledon champion Andy Murray, who qualified earlier this year, had to withdraw after undergoing back surgery recently.
“It’s a good moment right now sitting here knowing [my berth] is secure,” said Federer. “Clearly, every year since 2002 has been great qualifying for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. It’s great seeing the prestige of the event, seeing all the top guys showing up, and experiencing the event going to different cities.
“Now it’s at The O2, and you know what a great event that is. So it’s something I can really look forward to and get my adrenaline up for another couple of weeks now. It’s nice.”
