Frenchman happy with his own fighting qualities

After playing in his 100th career final, and sealing his 70th career title, the Swiss acknowledged the Frenchman’s contribution to an absorbing ATP World Tour final by telling the crowd at the O2 Arena: “I couldn’t be more happy. I couldn’t be more exhausted. Jo sucked every last bit of energy out of me today.”

The victory saw Federer surpass Ivan Lendl and Pete Sampras, who both won five titles at the season-ending event for the world’s top eight players, previously known as the Masters Cup.

The former world No 1 has not lost a match since the US Open semi-finals, and finished the year with a 17-match winning streak with titles in Basel and Paris before coming to London.

“He’s the best player indoors for the moment,” Tsonga said. “He’s maybe the best player ever, because he’s really quick. He’s playing well. That’s it.”

The capacity crowd included Pippa Middleton, Cristiano Ronaldo and London Mayor Boris Johnson – who was initially cheered when showed on the big screen but received boos when he and his party were late to return to their seats after a changeover, holding up play as Tsonga was about to serve at 2-1 in the third set.

Tsonga said he wasn’t bothered by the interruption. “It happens all the time,” he said. “That’s no problem.”

It was the third Sunday in a row that featured a meeting between these two players, as Federer beat Tsonga in the Paris final two weeks ago and again in their first round-robin match in London last weekend. The third win proved the hardest for Federer, who took the trophy for the second year running.

“Today I fight all I can,” Tsonga said. “I’m just happy tonight because I had a good week.

“Of course, to win is better. But anyway, I give everything. Tonight I can see myself in the mirror and say, ‘Yeah, you fight enough’.”