Montreal • Roger Federer continued his longest winning streak in five years by reaching the Rogers Cup final.
The second-seeded Federer used a 6-3, 7-6 (5) victory over unseeded Robin Haase of the Netherlands on Saturday to reach his sixth final of the year and win his 16th consecutive match.
He had considering skipping the event, which would have been disastrous for the promoters with world No. 1 Andy Murray as well as Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka already out with injuries. But Federer decided to play and now has a chance to add to a tally that includes Australian Open and Wimbledon titles this year.
“I’m very happy that I’ve made it here,” he said. “It was a good decision for me. If I would have known I would have gone to the finals, I would have said ‘yes’ right away. Sometimes you’ve just got to wait and see how you feel. I’m most happy that I’m actually really healthy going into the finals. I haven’t wasted too much energy. I’ve been able to keep points short. I’ve been really clean at net. I think my concentration and just my playing has gone up a notch. I’m just playing better.”
Federer is looking for a third Rogers Cup title but his first in Montreal, having won in 2004 and 2006 in Toronto. A victory would give Federer, currently ranked third in the world, one of the top two seeds at the U.S. Open that begins Aug. 28 in New York.
The 36-year-old has his longest winning streak since 2012.
In Sunday’s final, he will face the winner of the second semifinal between 18-year-old Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., and 20-year-old Alexander Zverev of Germany.
“I think those young players don’t quite know what to expect, and (neither) do I, because nobody quite knows,” said Federer. “Even though, Zverev is a more experienced player than Shapovalov at this stage.
“It’s a huge opportunity for them. It’s exciting. To have a player at 18 or 20 years old in the finals of a Masters 1000 is not something we’ve seen very often. Very rarely, except maybe when Andy, Novak and Rafa (Nadal) were coming up. They were such great teenagers that we maybe saw it more often. Not even I probably achieved finals of a Masters 1000 at that age. It’s very exciting for tennis.”
Haase, who upset seventh-seeded Grigor Dimitrov in the third round, was in his first career semifinal of a Masters Series tournament.
“I hope it gives me a lot of confidence,” Haase said of his performance for the week. “Next week (in Cincinnati), different conditions, different courts, so it’s tournament by tournament. But, in general, to make an achievement like this is good because it shows you can do it.”