Federer overcomes mental demons to win World Tour Finals

Roger that: Swiss ace Federer jubilant after beating Tsonga.
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The 6-3, 6-7 (6/8), 6-3 victory took Federer's record since the US Open to 17 wins and no defeats, earning him titles in Basle and Paris as well as at London's O2 Arena. The 30-year-old declared the record, which saw him pull clear of Ivan Lendl and Pete Sampras, one of his biggest achievements, but it was the manner of his victory that meant the most.

Federer has made an unwelcome habit of losing close matches this season, most notably a Wimbledon quarter-final against Tsonga and his US Open semi-final defeat by Novak Djokovic.u00a0 He said: "I think I'm mentally good right now. That was also one of the reasons why I did take some time off, to actually think it through, get into the right mental mindset.

"There is a lot of time that goes by out on tour, during a match, you're just trying to stay positive, but you can't always be positive out there. It's just too difficult. "That's where maybe the doubts were just a bit too strong during certain important moments. I wanted to get that out of my system during the six-week break, and I was able to do that."

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