6-time champion Federer knocked out of ATP by debutant Tsitsipas

Roger Federer, the six-time champion of the ATP World Tour Finals, was knocked out of the season finale here on Saturday by debutant Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3, 6-4 in the semifinal.

The 38-year-old Federer secured his semifinal berth for the 16th time after defeating world number two Novak Djokovic from Serbia in his last group match on Thursday.

But the Swiss legend was broken early when facing the 21-year-old Tsitsipas from Greece and failed to turn the table over depite creating several chances in the second set.

"I think getting broken with missing two smashes in one game, that hasn't in a long, long time or ever. So that was tough. That's not something you can train or practice for," Federer talked about the opening set where he was broken in his first service game.

"I accepted it and moved on and actually got into the match well. Had some good spells, but the spells where things were not working well, they were pretty bad. At this level, you just can't have it happen, so that was pretty disappointing today," added Federer.

Tsitsipas broke first in the third game of the second set, but Federer managed to revenge in the following game. However, the 20-time grand slam winner lost his next service game and failed to fill the gap despite having two break points in the last game.

"It's a great moment not just for me, for everyone else, my country, my team," said Tsitsipas. "I'm proud of myself, how hard I fought today, how concentrated I stayed in the breakpoints. Didn't crack under pressure. I was very composed and very mature in my decisions."

Tsitsipas, the youngest player in the top eight, will meet the winner between Alexander Zverev and Dominic Thiem. The German defending champion and the Austrian world number five will play in the evening session on Saturday.