SHANGHAI: Roger Federer brushed aside world number one Rafael Nadal 6-4, 6-3 to win the Shanghai Masters on Sunday and register his fourth victory of the year over his Spanish rival.

The Swiss world number two beat Nadal in the finals of the Australian Open and Miami Masters and in the last 16 at Indian Wells earlier this year, and never looked like losing to his long-time rival in Shanghai, firing 10 aces as he cruised to victory.

The Swiss 19-time Grand Slam winner, who still trails Nadal 23-15 in their overall head-to-head record, didn’t face a break point and started and ended the match with service breaks.

Federer, the only man who can still stop Nadal ending the year as number one, took an hour and 12 minutes to claim his sixth title of the year.

“I don’t know what my expectations were going in,” Federer said. “I thought I might struggle early on because it was a late finish last night.

“I had no nerves before the match, surprisingly. I think I was pretty clear about how I wanted to play the match. I started off very well and relaxed from then on.”

Nadal, who admitted afterwards that he had been defeated by the better man on the night, was up against it almost right away.

Federer put the Spaniard under the cosh in breaking him in the first game, to roars of approval from the majority inside the arena.

Another break to 36-year-old Federer in the fifth game of the second set put him in reach of a second Shanghai Masters crown.

“I wasn’t here last year because of injuries, so it’s just so, so nice to be back in Shanghai,” Federer said. “It’s a wonderful moment for me to be back here playing against my good friend and rival, Rafa... We didn’t think maybe we were going to have the year we did.”

Federer, who won the tournament in 2014, has enjoyed himself on the fast courts of Shanghai this year, while Nadal will look back on a successful stint in Asia after winning last week’s China Open.

“I want to congratulate Roger and his team for a great year. Today I think you played a fantastic match, so many congratulations,” Nadal said.

“This year has probably been the most successful of my career here in China... It’s been a great two weeks and I feel very happy after a long year to be able to have the results here. It’s very important for me.”

Published in Dawn, October 16th, 2017