Attacking Federer Reaches Cincinnati Final

© Getty ImagesRoger Federer on the attack.

An aggressive Roger Federer will chase a fourth Cincinnati title and 17th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crown when he meets Mardy Fish in the final of the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters Sunday. Defending champion Federer enjoyed an emphatic 6-4, 6-3 semi-final win Saturday night over Marcos Baghdatis, who defeated the Swiss earlier in the year in Indian Wells.

Federer was in imperious form, dropping just three points on first serve and ruffling Baghdatis with sustained aggression, including regular forays to the net. The five-time ATP World Tour No. 1 said that he used downtime since Wimbledon to retool his game, adding more aggressive elements to his already formidable arsenal.

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“The past year I’ve been very disappointed with my returning," Federer said. "I’ve played very safe the whole time and even on the first serve I haven’t been able to read the players as much, which had been my big strength. That got me thinking… After Wimbledon I had six weeks to work on a few things. On the hard courts it’s nice to play forwards and not always be defensive and let the other guy dictate. I’m happy that the hard work is paying off right away.”

Federer leads Fish 5-1 in career meetings but the American won when they last played at Indian Wells in 2008.

Baghdatis, who won 87 percent of first serves in his quarter-final win over Rafael Nadal, barely topped 50 percent against Federer, who threw in some well-timed chip-and-charge plays, including on break point to close out the first set.

"I was hitting the ball well but he made me feel like I had no solutions," Baghdatis said. "He played really smart. He played a lot differently tonight than Indian Wells, where he was playing backhand to backhand. Tonight he came to the net more and I wasn't expecting that. He played really aggressive and it wasn't my day today and I couldn't push him to make mistakes."
 
Assessing his impressive Olympus US Open Series run, including his Cincinnati semi-final appearance, Baghdatis said: "It was a great week for me and I'm now back in the Top 20 and I feel great. I am fit and playing top guys well. I played three Top 10 guys and one Top 15 (Cilic) in the first round this week. And playing those matches without any pain, is a bonus for me. I have to continue the way I'm working and just be patient and more success will come. I don't have to think about any points or rankings and my ranking will go up by itself."