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Federer defeats Cilic to remain unbeaten at ATP Finals

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London, Nov 17 (IANS) Swiss great Roger Federer rallied from a set down to defeat Croatia’s Marin Cilic 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 6-1 here to remain unbeaten at the ATP Finals ahead of the semi-final action this weekend.

The second-ranked Federer, who routed Cilic in straight sets in this year’s Wimbledon final to extend his record Grand Slam men’s singles title haul to 19, recorded his eighth victory in nine career matches over the Croatian on Thursday, Efe news reported.

“I played very well so really happy to be playing at this level right now,” Federer said after wrapping up the victory at the O2 Arena in London in one hour and 54 minutes.

Cilic, who had already been eliminated from semi-final contention after losses earlier in the week to Germany’s Alexander Zverev and American Jack Sock in Group Boris Becker, stayed level with Federer in the first set by staving off four break points and then won it in a tiebreaker.

But the 36-year-old six-time champion came charging back, breaking Cilic’s serve in the final game of the second set and then rolling to an easy victory in the third.

Federer, who had defeated Sock on Sunday and Zverev on Tuesday, has now advanced unbeaten to the last four of the ATP Finals for the 10th time in 15th appearances at this elite, year-end indoor hard-court event.

In the final Group Boris Becker match Thursday night, Zverev will take on Sock to determine who finishes runner-up in the group and earns the right to play on Saturday.

Next up for Federer will be either Belgium’s David Goffin or Austria’s Dominic Thiem, who will square off in Group Pete Sampras action Friday with a semi-final berth at stake.

Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov has already advanced out of that group with wins over Thiem and Goffin.

–IANS
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Sunil Gavaskar gives his opinion of GT allrounder Rahul Tewatia

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The left-handed batsman from Haryana is garnering praise from all quarters for the way he’s finishing games regularly in the most exciting IPL season.

Gavaskar reckons Tewatia’s whirlwind knock in Sharjah (in IPL 2020) where he smashed West Indies pacer Sheldon Cottrell for five sixes in an over, gave him the confidence that he belongs to the big stage.

Speaking on Cricket Live on Star Sports, Gavaskar said, “That assault on Sheldon Cottrell in Sharjah gave him the belief to do the impossible and the confidence that he belongs here. We saw the impossible (he did with the bat) the other day as well. There’s no twitching or touching the pads (which shows a batter’s nervousness) when he bats in the death overs. He just waits for the ball to be delivered and plays his shots. He’s got all the shots in the book, but most importantly his temperament to stay cool in a crisis is brilliant.”

Gavaskar has also nicknamed the 28-year-old cricketer the ‘ice-man’ and lauded Tewatia’s ability to remain unruffled during the tense moments.

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