Roger Federer overcame a sluggish start to beat injured Gilles Simon at the finals of the Shanghai Masters. The Swiss triumphed 7-6 (8/6), 7-6 (7/2), to register his 23rd Masters Series title and first in China.
The Frenchman broke the first game and looked on course for the opening set, but Federer fought back and took the tiebreak, wrapping up victory in just under two hours.
After a very tight first set, Simon, who had knocked out Australian Open winner Stanislas Wawrinka and sixth seed Tomas Berdych en route to the final, took a medical time out for treatment on a suspected groin problem at the end of the set and looked uncomfortable upon his return.
The 17-time Grand Slam winner, who will move above Rafael Nadal into second spot in the world rankings when they are updated, has to date won seven of the nine different Masters Series events with only the clay court Monte Carlo and Rome tournaments eluding him.
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