WASHINGTON, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Top seed Roger Federer advanced into his 150th tour-level final as he set up a blockbuster championship clash against Novak Djokovic of Croatia after defeating Belgian player David Goffin 7-6(3), 1-1 on Saturday.
Overcoming a slow start, the Swiss player claimed the first set with a tiebreak and then Goffin received a medical timeout between sets for treatment on his right shoulder. He eventually opted to retire when the second set scoreline was 1-1.
"It didn't make sense to continue," said Goffin. "I was serving 100 miles per hour first serve and my arm and my shoulder felt so bad. After I lost the first set, I had to serve two more sets to win the match, so it didn't make sense to continue."
After the semifinal win, Federer has improved to 7-1 against Goffin.
"I just think in general here in Cincinnati you've got to win the big points," said Federer. "There are not that many opportunities, especially if you protect your serve well. Everything goes very quickly. You can't play the rallies like you normally would like to. You're playing very reactive on the return and active on your own serve. Of course it helps when you win that first-set tie-break, because it's an emotional boost."
"So I was just happy how I was able to lift my game up throughout the set, and then also in the tie-breaker, I played a good breaker, so I was actually very happy."
Few players have enjoyed the run of dominance that Federer has in Cincinnati. He enters the tournament with a 7-0 record in finals.
