Federer Becomes Seventh Player to Qualify for ATP Tour Finals in London

Roger Federer qualified for the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals after securing a straight sets victory over Kevin Anderson in the second round of the Paris Masters.

The 32-year-old had lost the Swiss Indoors final to Juan Martin Del Potro last week and was subsequently denied a place in the Tour Finals in London.

However, a comfortable 6-4 6-4 win over Anderson has allowed the Swiss ace to book his place in the competition for the 12<sup>th consecutive year.

"[It's] the absolute pinnacle of our sport," Federer said of the tournament. "You want to be able to showcase your talents against the best, with the biggest rivalries, in one of the coolest arenas in the world in front of amazing fans. For me it's always been an honour to play there and I look forward to returning this year."

Federer has slipped down to seventh in the world rankings and has won just one tournament this year - the Gerry Weber Open in Halle.

Eight places are available for the Race to the ATP finals but the ninth seed will also qualify after Andy Murray was ruled out of the tournament due to a back injury.

While Federer has had a year to forget, current world number one Rafael Nadal has been in exceptional from for the last 11 months and easily overcame fellow Spaniard Marcel Granollers 7-5 7-5 to reach the third round.

"It's been an extraordinary season so far and I just want to keep it going and finish the year the way that I can," Nadal told the BBC.

Nadal and Federer will be joined in London by Novak Djokovic, David Ferrer, Del Potro and Tomas Berdych, with two place still up for grabs.

Stanislas Wawrinka and Rickard Gasquet are currently in pole position to qualify with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga having missed out after losing to Kei Nishikori in Paris.