Back on track

What a relief! Federer has won his second round-robin match against Nikolay Davydenko 6-4 6-3 at the Masters Cup in Shanghai. This win, coming after a shock opening match loss to Fernando Gonzalez, brings the defending champion back into contention for a slot in the semifinals of the season-ending tournament.

Although he won in straight sets, the top seed's performance was still far from being perfect. His game was a odd mixture of flashes of brilliance and seemingly unexplainable lapses in concentration. In fact, after going up two breaks in the first set, he was broken just when he was serving for the set. The same thing happened in the second set when he was serving for the match at 5-1.

Nevertheless, a win is a win which is what often counts in round-robin play.

He will now meet Andy Roddick in a final but crucial round-robin match. The American against whom he has a 14-1 record was the first of the eight players at the Masters Cup to secure a semifinal slot after winning each of his two round-robin matches in straight sets.

Given his recent unimpressive form--unimpressive at least according to his standards--the Swiss' match against an in-form Roddick promises to be a nailbiter. (Time to bring out the bottle of Tums from the medicine cabinet!)