Roger Federer hasn’t played Rotterdam in years.  It’s not entirely clear why he chose to play this year so soon after the Davis Cup tie, but perhaps getting some ATP points is something he has planned.  He has won the title, way back in 2005 and that was the last time Federer played the tournament.  This is also the first year that Juan Martin del Potro has played the tournament.

Federer wanted to start this match more efficiently than he had against Davydenko.  This isn’t to say Davydenko played badly, but Federer’s shots were a bit off in the semifinals, and so he had to play around 3 hours to beat the Russian.

Not so in the finals where Federer looked very sharp.  Federer was striking his backhand well, hitting his inside-in forehand with precision.  It was a touch shaky in the first game where Federer’s sharp hitting was mixed with some errant forays to the net.  Federer had to fend off break points, but did so.  Fed then went on a huge streak taking 5 games in a row, breaking del Potro twice.  del Potro didn’t win his first game until he was down 5-0, and then Federer served out the match.

The second set was closer with Federer’s sharp play cooling down as he took more conservative shots and sometimes just played patient (for Fed).  del Potro had to fight out of numerous games, but was broken in the middle of the second set.  Federer continued to hold despite a chance by del Potro to break back.  del Potro then found himself down 15-40 double match point, but served his way out of that game.  Fed got up 40-15 serving out the match, lost the next point, then got to the net and put away the point to win the match.

Federer is expected to play in Dubai in two weeks.  Indeed, only two players in the top ten do not plan to play Dubai.  That would be Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer.

Next week, play continues in Memphis where Americans are likely to play (e.g., Ryan Harrison).