2014 SHANGHAI: Federer Wins 23rd Masters Shield, 81st ATP Title

One day after outplaying World #1 Novak Djokovic in the semifinals of the 2014 Shanghai Masters 6-4 6-4, Roger Federer defeated Gilles Simon to win his 81st career title and 23rd ATP Masters Shield. It was the first time Federer has won the tournament in Shanghai, which is generally rated by the players as their favorite tournament on the tour. Djokovic was nursing a 28-match winning streak on Chinese soil but this was ended by his loss to Federer, who maintains his edge in their overall head-to-head 19-17 now.

It was Federer's 4th title of 2014 and demonstrates the difference between this year and next for the Greatest Player Of All Time. In 2013 he only won one title (at Halle on grass) only reached three finals and ended the year ranked #6. With this win, Federer will return to #2 in the rankings and he has been in 9 finals this year, including the Wimbledon Final (l. Djokovic) and he has won two masters shields (Cincinnati and Shanghai), Halle (for the 7th time in 9 finals) and Dubai. He lost in the finals of three Masters tournaments: Indian Wells (l. Djokovic), Toronto (l. Tsonga) and Monte Carlo (l. Wawrinka).