Montanes Reaches Final; Federer Insists He Isn't Concerned Over Form

© AFP/Getty ImagesAlbert Montanes reached his eighth ATP World Tour final.

Defending champion Albert Montanes knocked out World No. 1 Roger Federer 6-2, 7-6(5) in 82 minutes on Saturday for a place in the Estoril Open final.

Montanes will contest his eighth ATP World Tour final on clay against Frederico Gil, the Portuguese No. 2, who knocked out fifth-seeded Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 in two hours and 29 minutes on Centralito court. Both semi-finals were played simultaneously, due to bad weather earlier in the day.

Federer, who was aiming to capture his 63rd career title at the Estadio Nacional this week, committed 48 unforced errors in damp conditions on a slow-paced clay-court. The match had been delayed by over two hours due to torrential rain.

When asked whether he was worried about his preparations for Roland Garros, the Swiss superstar said: “I’m not worried. It’s too far away. My goal isn’t to win 12 tournaments a year, it is the big events: the [ATP World Tour] Masters 1000s, the Grand Slams, [Barclays] ATP World Tour Finals and keeping the No. 1 ranking.”

“My decision to come to Estoril was the right decision. I would like to return again in future. I know that good things are around the corner.”

Federer fell to 15/40 in the third game and hit a forehand long on Montanes third break point opportunity. Montanes opened up a 4-1 lead, when Federer hit a forehand wide at 40-30.

Although the Swiss superstar broke back immediately, a poor drop shot at 30/40 in the seventh game saw Montanes race to the net for a backhand winner down the line. Montanes closed out the 29-minute first set with his fifth groundstroke winner. Federer had committed 19 unforced errors.

The 29-year-old Montanes, appearing at the Estoril Open for the sixth time (12-4 record), survived two break point opportunities in the fourth game of the second set.

In the tie-break, Federer opened up a 5-2 lead courtesy of some attacking tennis but World No. 34 Montanes won five straight points – three points coming from Federer forehand errors – to complete his first win in four meeting.

“The conditions were extremely slow, but I don’t mind that,” said Federer. "I grew up with it in Switzerland, where we have a lot of rain.

“I’m disappointed to have played a match like this, where I got off to a bad start again. I didn’t play that badly in the second set, I had my moments but my movement was a little slow. I didn’t have confidence in my movement. I have put in a lot of work.”

Federer is just six weeks shy of breaking Pete Sampras’ all-time record of 286 weeks at No. 1 in the South African Airways 2010 ATP Rankings. He captured his 16th Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January and has a 15-5 match record on the season.

“I’m lacking matches,” said Federer. “I’ll keep practising hard again. Conditions will speed up in Madrid and Paris [at Roland Garros]. I must take positives into the next few weeks.”