• Shanghai Masters

Federer closes in on No.1 after seeing off Simon

Roger Federer has a good chance to overtake Novak Djokovic to become world No.1 again © Getty Images

Enlarge

Roger Federer boosted his chances of ending the year as world No.1 with a 7-6(6) 7-6(2) victory over Gilles Simon in the final of the Shanghai Masters.

The win is Federer's 23rd in a Masters 1000 event - just four behind leader Rafael Nadal - and his 81st overall.

The 17-time grand slam champion nearly exited the tournament in his opening match when he had to save five match points against Leonardo Mayer. But he rebounded from that poor start to beat Djokovic in the semi-finals and then Simon for his first title in Shanghai.

It was not easy for the Swiss, who had to recover from a break and set-point down in the first to take it on a tie-break. Federer then saved two set points at 5-6 in the second before Simon ran out of steam.

"To win the biggest tournament in Asia is a treat," Federer, beaten by Andy Murray in the 2010 final, said. "I got lucky to come through the first round after saving five match points. It's been a dream week."

Federer is now just 90 ranking points behind current No.1 Novak Djokovic, with four tournaments and 3,225 points to play for. Djokovic will only play in two events between now and the end of the year - in Paris and London - so only has 2,500 points to play for.

Federer has not been world No.1 since being replaced by Djokovic in November 2012.

It has been a banner year for Federer despite the fact he has fallen just short at the majors. He leads the tour in match wins (61), top-10 wins (13) and final appearances (nine). On Monday, Federer will leap past Rafael Nadal to No.2 in the rankings for the first time in more than a year.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd