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Cape Town - Swiss great Roger Federer expects a tough encounter against South Africa’s Kevin Anderson when they meet in the ATP Finals group stage on Thursday.
Anderson has been in scintillating form in his debut appearance at the prestigious eight-man event, with wins against Australia’s Dominic Thiem (6-3, 7-6) and Japan’s Kei Nishikori (6-0, 6-1) leaving him on the verge of qualifying for the semi-finals.
Federer lost his opening match to Nishikori 7-6, 6-3, before getting back to winning ways by fending off Thiem 6-2, 6-3 on Tuesday.
Thursday’s final group match will be a rematch of the pair’s Wimbledon quarter-final, which Anderson won after prevailing 13-11 in the fifth set.
"(What is) important for me is to play a good last match here in the round robin, try to beat Kevin. He has been playing great. He has had a wonderful season. Played great against me as well at Wimbledon," Federer told the ATP Tour’s official website.
"That's my focus. I can't talk about what would come next because it's a hard match in itself. My first-round match here wasn't great, so today was better, and I need to keep that up against Kevin, obviously, if I want to have a chance to stay here in London."
Overall, Federer holds a 4-1 head-to-head advantage over Anderson, with the South African losing all eight sets he had played against Federer before the meeting at Wimbledon.
