Roger Federer crashes out of the ATP World Tour Finals after shock semi-final defeat at the hands of David Goffin

ROGER and out – hot favourite Federer has lost in the last four of the ATP World Tour Finals.

The world No2 seemed well on course for the final at the O2 when he took the first set against David Goffin in just 33 minutes.

EPA

But the baby-faced Belgian rallied brilliantly and took advantage of Federer’s fall-off in performance to seal a famous 2-6 6-3 6-4 victory.

It was a massive blow for all the Federer fanatics in the stands but a huge statement by Goffin.

No one from his country had ever qualified for the end-of-season event before.

Now he is one match away from winning it and claiming the biggest title of his career.

Reuters

Goffin, who had lost all six of his previous meetings with Federer, said: “I’m so happy. It’s such a special moment. It’s unbelievable.

“I was feeling the ball really well. I was a little bit nervous at the start of the match.

“I did some great serves, I was really aggressive.

“The serve was there until the end, which helped me a lot because I was nervous again in the last game.

“To beat Roger for the first time here in such a big event, big tournament, it was the perfect moment. It is the best win of my career, for sure.”

Reuters

Meanwhile, Federer could only say: “It’s kind of disappointing to finish on this note.

“But whatever happened today is less important than if I look at the entire season.

“It’s been an amazing year for me. I’ve been so happy that I was playing at this level from the beginning till basically the end.”

Federer was on course for a shot at a record-extending seventh title at the season-ending event when he took the first set in just 33 minutes.

But Goffin raised his game and took advantage of a rare off-day by the 19-time Grand Slam winner to claim a famous victory after losing all seven previous meetings with the tennis legend.