Roger Federer secured his first ATP title in Milan in February 2001. The Swiss celebrated his fifth ATP crown at another indoor event two years later, winning Marseille 2003. Federer lost to David Nalbandian at the Australian Open a couple of weeks earlier and embraced the European indoor swing.
Roger had two singles victories against the Netherlands in the Davis Cup and entered Marseille for the fourth and final time. Federer rose above all rivals to win his fifth ATP title, three years after reaching the final there for the first time.
Roger started the campaign in less than an hour when Ivan Ljubicic withdrew after the first set tiebreak. The Swiss defeated Jarkko Nieminen 6-3, 6-3 in 67 quick minutes to enter the quarterfinals. Roger saved ten of 11 break points and kept up the pressure on the other side.
The Swiss experienced a tough challenge in the quarter-finals, beating Raemon Sluiter 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in one hour and 48 minutes. Federer erased 11 of 13 break points, got broken twice but stole Sluiter’s serve three times to emerge on top and enter the last four.
Roger defeated Karol Kucera 7-6, 6-3 in one hour and 26 minutes, serving well and breaking the Slovak’s serve twice in the second set to advance to his 11th ATP final. On February 16, Federer defeated Jonas Bjorkman 6-2, 7-6 in one hour and 24 minutes to lift his fifth ATP trophy and break into the top 5 for the second time in his career..
It was their second clash and the second win for the Swiss. Roger dominated with his first serve and faced just two break points. He lost serve once and kept the pressure on the Swede constantly. Bjorkman had a slight advantage on the shortest points down to four shots.
However, that failed to give him at least one set after Roger destroyed him in mid-range exchanges of five to eight shots. With more winners and forcing more errors, Federer created ten break chances and converted three to wrap up the two-set victory.
The Swiss made the better start and sealed the deal in the second set tiebreaker after a comeback. Roger scored an instant break for a perfect start to the match. He prevailed in a longer rally and cemented the break with four winners in the second game.
The Swede turned down two break chances in the third game to put his name on the scoreboard. However, Roger broke him again at 3-1 on his fifth break point and increased the lead to 5-1 with a service winner a few minutes later.
Three good serves in the eighth game clinched the opener for Federer, who looked good to seal the deal in straight sets. Still, the Swiss finally faced break points early in the second set following the Swede’s forehand.
Bjorkman couldn’t convert the first, but the next one did the work for him after Federer’s weak backhand. Jonas went up 3-0 and was up 30-0 on the return of game four before Roger claimed four straight points to stay within a break deficit.
That proved even more critical when Federer fell back in game five to return to the silver lining. The Swiss held at 15 to level the score at 3-3, sending the set to a tiebreak after six loosened holds. Roger opened with three winners for a 3-1 lead and earned two match points with a beautiful game-winning volley.
Bjorkman made one last push to save them both before Federer set up the third with a backhand down the line winner. That turned out to be the lucky one, celebrating the title when Jonas hit an easy forehand and beginning a stellar journey that would bring him much more for the rest of the year.
