Paris: A resurgent Roger Federer swept past local favourite Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-1, 7-6 to clinch his maiden Paris Masters title on Sunday and send a deafening warning to his rivals ahead of the ATP World Tour finals.
Swiss third seed Federer, who moved to one shy of Rafael Nadal’s record of 19 Masters titles with a stunning display of sheer brilliance, became only the second player with titles in Roland Garros and Bercy — the two men’s Paris tournaments.
Rohan Bopanna Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi won their first ever ATP Masters tournament after whipping away the challenge of Julien Benneteau and Nicolas Mahut in straight sets in the final, on Sunday.
The seventh seeded Indo-Pak pair took just 65 minutes to defeat the French wild cards entries 6-2, 6-4 and pocket their third title of the season.
They had won the Gerry Weber Open at Halle and the Stockholm Open before this event.
Bopanna and Qureshi, who have already qualified for the season finale in London, earned 1000 ranking points each and split euro 134,500 as prize money.
Bopanna and Qureshi created chances in a jiffy and broke their rivals in the third and fifth games to open up a comprehensive 4-1 lead in the opening set within 20 minutes into the match.
Twice they were down 0-30 but did not lose control over the set and comfortably sealed it.
Benneteau and Mahut, who had shocked top seeds Mike and Bob Bryan en route to the final, gave a better account of themselves in the second set but could not stop the in-form Indo-Pak Express from lifting the title.
A good battle followed in the second set as the two pairs were locked 4-4.
But Bopanna and Qureshi broke Mahut when the Frechman committed his second double fault in the ninth game, sixth overall, to offer a break chance.
The Indo-Pak Express then served out the match in the next game after a few anxious moments.
“I’m very happy with my performance today,” Federer, who captured his 69th career title from 99 finals, said at the courtside. “I’m amazed by how well I play.
“I don’t think Jo played a bad match. It’s good to complete the tournament so solidly.”
Tsonga brushed aside suggestions he was tired after spending almost three hours on court in Saturday’s semi-final victory over American John Isner and said Federer had deserved to win.
“I think he did a good start and after that he played more relaxed, it was easier for him,” Tsonga said.
“Today I felt good but Roger was just better than me. I was in a good shape.
“I did not play very well all week, it was not my best tennis. I was a bit better today but against a player like Roger it is surely not enough.”
