LONDON: Roger Federer saved four match points on Saturday to ensure the most successful player at the ATP World Tour Finals will take on the best player of the season in a mouth-watering final.

Six-time champion Federer survived a late-night Swiss semi-final thriller against Stanislas Wawrinka, fighting for nearly three hours to reach a ninth final with a 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (8-6) win over his Davis Cup team-mate at London’s O2 Arena.

The 17-time Grand Slam champion will face the top-ranked Novak Djokovic in the final.

Djokovic, bidding for a third consecutive season-ending title having already secured the number one ranking, emerged from his first serious test of the tournament with a 6-1, 3-6, 6-0 victory over Japan’s Kei Nishikori after a mid-match meltdown.

The real drama was saved to last, however.

Having swept his group imperiously, Federer was the big favourite to claim a 15th victory in 17 career clashes with Wawrinka, but he was in for a rollercoaster ride.

Australian Open champ Wawrinka seemed determined to tear up the script, which had Federer and Djokovic lined up to contest the final match of the ATP season. He outplayed Federer in the opening set and went toe-to-toe in the second before cracking in the 12th game when a missed smash gave Federer three set points.

Federer looked down and out when Wawrinka served for the match at 5-4 in the deciding set. But he dropped serve following three clumsy approaches to the net on match points.

“For sure that game at the end I was nervous,” admitted Wawrinka. “You make some choice, especially when you’re tired, when you’re nervous. Just wanted to go for it and not wait for mistake.”

Federer saved the fourth match point with a service winner in the tie-break then converted his first chance to seal the semi-final with a drop shot volley that Wawrinka could not return.

“I think I got lucky tonight. Stan played better from the baseline and that usually does the job on this court,” a relieved Federer said. “But I kept fighting. It’s tough but I’m thrilled to be in another final.”

He will now do battle with Djokovic for a 37th time, though he has precious little recovery time.

Djokovic had also swept through the group stage in imperious style, but he was pushed harder by Nishikori, who became the first player to take a set off him since October, before a strong finish secured the Serb’s fourth appearance in the final.

Djokovic, who has lifted the Tour Finals trophy three times, remains on course to become the first man to win the event three years in a row since Ivan Lendl in the 1980s.

“Kei was playing great and this has been the best season of his life but he made some crucial double faults in the third set,” Djokovic said.

Published in Dawn, November 17th, 2014