http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/16/sports/tennis/roger-federer-shows-he-can-still-generate-sparks-in-the-twilight-of-his-career.html 2014-11-16 03:32:12 Roger Federer Shows He Can Still Generate Sparks in the Twilight of His Career Federer, who defeated Stan Wawrinka on Saturday, will face Novak Djokovic for the title in the ATP World Tour Finals. === LONDON — You would have been forgiven for thinking that But then along comes this autumn in the autumn of Federer’s singular career: a stretch in which he is saving match points and conjuring victories as never before; a stretch in which he has a chance to win his, and Switzerland’s, first Davis Cup. It is hard to know whether the fine and feisty match that Federer salvaged on Saturday night at the ATP World Tour Finals will help or hurt that communal cause. His comeback victim under the roof and the aquarium-worthy blue lighting of O2 Arena was Stan Wawrinka, his friend and Davis Cup teammate, who will take on the French with him in the final in Lille, France, in less than a week. But Federer’s stirring 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (6) victory, in which he saved four match points late in the third set, was certainly proof that Wawrinka, who has blown very hot and very cold all season, is still capable of generating plenty of heat at this late stage in the game. Now Federer, who needed 2 hours 48 minutes to wriggle free, has to prove that he can recover in a hurry if he is to stand a chance in the final of these year-end championships on Sunday night against the much more established threat posed by “We’ll see how Roger does physically tomorrow,” Wawrinka said. Djokovic played a less grueling three-setter of his own earlier Saturday, requiring 1:27 to beat Kei Nishikori, 6-1, 3-6, 6-0, and give himself the opportunity to win the World Tour Finals for the third straight year. Federer has won this event a record six times. Djokovic-Federer is the matchup that many fans here have been hoping for as they moaned and groaned through blowout after blowout in the early, round-robin stage of this tournament. But Saturday provided much more entertainment value, and London will now get a rematch of a final played on the other side of town in July when Djokovic prevailed in five sets to win Wimbledon. That victory helps explain why Djokovic, not the second-ranked Federer, will finish the year at No. 1. But Federer still holds a 19-17 career edge in their rivalry, one of the best in the long history of their sport, and has beaten Djokovic in three of their other four matches this season, including the semifinals in Shanghai last month. “I lost more than I won this season,” Djokovic said. “I’m going to have to deliver my best game because that is what is needed when you play against Roger at this stage of one of the most important tournaments of the year. We all know how good he is in the finals. I know what to expect from him. Hopefully I can deliver what I imagine.” It required plenty of imagination to visualize an escape hatch for Federer as Wawrinka piled up the match points while serving at 5-4 in the third set. But then this was the same Federer who saved two match points before beating Gaël Monfils in the quarterfinals of this year’s This was also the same Federer who had beaten Wawrinka, his longtime understudy, in 14 of their previous 16 matches and all of their Grand Slam matches. Wawrinka, 29, got a taste of a better world this year: winning his first major title at the Australian Open in January and then beating Federer in the final in Monte Carlo in April. He went at Federer on Saturday (and served at Federer on Saturday) with little hint of an inferiority complex, but his tactical choices under the greatest pressure were certainly questionable as he served for the match at 5-4 in the final set. On his first two match points, he chose to serve and volley on second serves: Federer passed him to save the first, and Wawrinka badly misplayed a backhand volley to squander the second. On the third match point, he came forward again and popped up a forehand volley that Federer slapped for another winner. At this stage, it was easy to forget that Federer, not Wawrinka, was the Swiss now coached by the Swedish net-rusher Stefan Edberg. “A match like that, you make some choices, especially when you are tired and when you are nervous, and I just wanted to go for it and not wait for a mistake,” Wawrinka said. But Federer would do plenty of damage with his volleys in this throwback duel, too, and after saving one more match point in the tiebreaker with a first serve at 5-6 that Wawrinka punched back long, he finished off the match with consecutive forehand drop volley winners. The handshake at the net was amicable but hardly extended, and Federer soon walked back to the net for his postmatch winner’s interview. “I feel very lucky to be doing this interview right now,” Federer said. It was hard to argue, but for anyone who has watched Federer in this autumn of living dangerously, it did not seem like a coincidence.