Roger Federer was one of the players to beat in 2013 after winning his first Wimbledon crown. Roger qualified for his second Masters Cup despite blowing his chances of becoming world number 1 that summer. Federer experienced early exits in Basel and Paris before accepting the trip to Houston, hoping to make a strong run at the final event of the season.
In his first match in the ATP elite, Federer defeated Andre Agassi 6-7, 6-3, 7-6 after two hours and 25 minutes. The Swiss dropped the first set and fended off both match points late in the decider to clinch victory and start winning.
Federer took a 5-3 lead in the decider before Agassi staged the comeback. The American made up the break after a double fault from the Swiss and kept up the pace in front of the home crowd. A forehand winner gave Agassi the first match point at 5-5 on the tiebreaker.
Roger parried it with a serve winner before making a forehand error to find himself 7-6 down. A gutsy forehand winner down the line at point 14 kept the youngster alive, scoring another point on the return and sealing the deal with a forehand winner down the court.
Roger remembered the first match against Andre in Basel in 1998, when he was still 17 years old. The American prevailed in no time and the Swiss greatly improved his game over the next five years to become one of the best players in the world.
«Andre and I haven’t played much. I couldn’t do much against him in Basel as a 17-year-old, and I nearly won him in Miami this year. It’s nice to get a win against a player of his caliber.»
Federer always wanted to be well marketed
Unlike Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer have always been in a much better space in terms of marketability and brand appeal, according to Mike Nakajima.
«I’m not sure Rafa wants to be the highest paid sponsor in the world. I don’t think he cares,» Nakajima said. “Rafa is Rafa, he has done extremely well and I don’t think he needs anything else. Roger wanted to be marketed, so he appealed to different brands, audiences, and consumer groups.
And his management company has done an amazing job,» he added. «He (Federer) can appeal to any audience. And people believe that he is telling the truth, regardless of what Roger says. He’s that believable.»
