Federer overpowers Novak to capture Vienna title
Swiss sixth seed Roger Federer outclassed Czech fifth seed Jiri Novak 6-4, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 to win the indoor CA Trophy on Sunday and claim his third title of the year.
Federer's win, the fourth of his young career, vaulted the 21-year-old from 10th to seventh in the ATP Champions Race and boosts his chances of securing one of the eight tickets to the season-ending Masters Cup in Shanghai.
It also signalled a resounding return to form for Federer after a slump over the summer following his last tournament victory in Hamburg in May.
"I'm absolutely overwhelmed -- it's been an incredible week for me here," the overjoyed champion said.
"It was a very difficult game with long duels from the baseline. He plays very flat but I gave it my all," he added.
A tearful Federer then dedicated his win to his mentor and Swiss Davis Cup coach Peter Carter, who died in a car accident in South Africa in August.
Federer had never survived past the last four in his previous three attempts on the hard courts here in Vienna, but this time he has looked in a class of his own.
He thrashed fourth seed Carlos Moya in the semi-final and never looked in real danger of losing the upper hand in Sunday's final against the in-form Czech.
In the first two sets the tall Swiss served consistently well, shooting numerous aces and only double-faulting once.
Pumped up as his aggressive game hit the mark, Federer fired an arsenal of shots with varying speeds to fox Novak.
He raced through the second set winning six games in a row after dropping his serve in the very first game.
CONSISTENT PLAYER
But Novak, one of the most consistent players this year, refused to go out without a battle and clinched the third set after breaking Federer in the eighth game.
Federer remained patient in the final set and pounced on Novak's serve in the ninth game to wrap up victory after two hours and 10 minutes.
Despite the disappointment of missing out so narrowly on his first title of the year, Novak still had cause for cheer.
The 27-year-old has shot up the rankings this year and with his performance here in Vienna has cracked the top 10 for the first time.
Before Sunday's final, Novak had never made it past the second round in his previous three appearances here at the Wiener Stadthalle.
