Toni Nadal tells El Pais that his nephew Rafael is hitting the ball badly and lacked consistency throughout the entire 2011 season. Rafael Nadal won 67 matches this year, less than his total in 2010 (71) and 2008 (82). He won Roland Garros and another two titles, but went 0-6 against now No. 1 Novak Djokovic. His title output was his lowest since 2004.

“In preparation for the [ATP Finals], he had shoulder problems,” said Toni Nadal, who coaches his nephew. “This translated into a little less velocity, and without that power, it’s difficult to compete on this surface. The indoor game is poom, poom—faster. Rafael is better when it’s slower. With the same surface, but no roof, there’s wind, other situations may make the game vary slightly. Here, for him, it’s complicated.”

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic says that while he wouldn’t trade his 2011 season for anything, he needs a healthy amount of rest and relaxation. After winning his third major of the season at the U.S. Open (his 10th title of the year), the Serbian only went 6-4 afterward, retiring in a Davis Cup rubber, losing to Kei Nishikori in Basel, pulling out of his Bercy quarterfinal against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and then losing two out of three matches in the ATP World Tour Finals, including a 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 defeat to Janko Tipsarevic.

“You know, my body says that it’s overload,” Djokovic told reporters. “It has been too much this year. Obviously, mentally I feel a little bit drained. I just don’t have that freshness in my mind for the matches and I don’t have these dynamics that I had in all 10 months of the year. But this is something to be expected after the year that I had. I’ll look forward to going for a much-needed rest.”

LONDON (AP)—Every time Roger Federer steps onto the court, another milestone seems to be within grasp.

He seized another one Saturday, reaching his 100th career final by beating David Ferrer 7-5, 6-3 in the semifinals of the ATP World Tour Finals. Federer could add a few more Sunday. He’s in position to win his 70th title overall and a record sixth at the season-ending tournament for the world’s top eight players.

“It’s obviously a special occasion for me,” said Federer, who will play Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the final.

Tsonga beat Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic 6-3, 7-5 in the late match, putting the sixth-seeded Frenchman into the final of this event for the first time, in only his second appearance.

“Roger is the best player for the moment indoors,” Tsonga said. “It’s going to be really special here, for my first final here. It’s going to be an amazing atmosphere on court, and I like that. … I know it’s the last match (of the year) so I will give it everything.”

The victory over Ferrer sent Federer past Andy Murray to No. 3 in the year-end rankings, trailing No. 1 Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.

Djokovic and Nadal were eliminated after losing two of their round-robin matches this week, both saying their minds and bodies weren’t up for top-level tennis following another grueling season. Murray pulled out injured following his opening loss to Ferrer on Monday.

Federer—who holds a record 16 Grand Slam titles—is tied with Ivan Lendl and Pete Sampras with five victories at the ATP Finals, formerly known as the Masters Cup. A win Sunday would also tie Lendl’s record of 39 match victories in the event.

Federer became the fifth player to reach 100 finals in the open era, joining Jimmy Connors (163), Lendl (146), John McEnroe (108) and Guillermo Vilas (104).

“I’m shocked every time that I’ve reached so many finals or won against so many players or whatever record it is,” Federer said. “It strikes me and makes me obviously very happy and very proud that I’ve been able to do it for so many years at the highest of levels.”

And with his 806th victory Saturday, Federer moved into a share of sixth place on the career list with Stefan Edberg.

“Stefan was my idol,” Federer said. “So to achieve something that he achieved is obviously very nice. I don’t think it matters much, but it’s still very nice to get reminded that you equaled your idol’s or hero’s achievements.”

In a tournament where his biggest rivals complained of fatigue after failing to make it out of the group stage, Federer showed no signs of slowing down. The 30-year-old Swiss star extended his unbeaten streak to 16 matches after winning titles in Basel and Paris before coming to London.

Federer has played some of his best tennis of the year in London, and while he did not look as sharp against Ferrer as he did in his three group-stage victories, he never faced a break point. He broke the fifth-seeded Spaniard twice in the second set and converted his second match point with a forehand winner.

Ferrer came within two points of the first set six times in Federer’s service game when the Spaniard led 5-4. But he never earned a break point in a game that went to deuce five times, and Federer finally held when Ferrer sent a backhand passing shot wide. That marked a turning point, with Federer winning the next four games as well to take control.

“Obviously it was a key 5-4 game for me,” Federer said. “That was a crucial sort of 15, 20 minutes for me. I’m happy I was able to decide the match right there.”

Ferrer dropped to 0-12 against Federer. The Spaniard started the week by beating Murray and Djokovic convincingly, but couldn’t keep up that level of play less than 16 hours after losing a three-set match against Berdych on Friday.

“Maybe I didn’t have really time to relax, but (that) is not the excuse here,” Ferrer said. “He played better than me.”

Berdych also struggled against the rested Tsonga, landing just 53 percent of his first serves and double-faulting five times—including on break point to go down 4-3 in the second set.

The Czech broke back immediately but then lost serve again to let Tsonga take a decisive 6-5 lead, and the Frenchman served out the match with an ace.

Tsonga will play Federer for the third Sunday in a row, after losing to him in the Paris final two weeks ago and their first round-robin match in London last weekend.

In doubles, Max Mirnyi of Belarus and Daniel Nestor of Canada reached the final by beating American twins Bob and Mike Bryan 7-6 (6), 6-4. In the second semifinal, Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes of India faced Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski of Poland.

Toni Nadal tells El Pais that his nephew Rafael is hitting the ball badly and lacked consistency throughout the entire 2011 season. Rafael Nadal won 67 matches this year, less than his total in 2010 (71) and 2008 (82). He won Roland Garros and another two titles, but went 0-6 against now No. 1 Novak Djokovic. His title output was his lowest since 2004.

“In preparation for the [ATP Finals], he had shoulder problems,” said Toni Nadal, who coaches his nephew. “This translated into a little less velocity, and without that power, it’s difficult to compete on this surface. The indoor game is poom, poom—faster. Rafael is better when it’s slower. With the same surface, but no roof, there’s wind, other situations may make the game vary slightly. Here, for him, it’s complicated.”

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic says that while he wouldn’t trade his 2011 season for anything, he needs a healthy amount of rest and relaxation. After winning his third major of the season at the U.S. Open (his 10th title of the year), the Serbian only went 6-4 afterward, retiring in a Davis Cup rubber, losing to Kei Nishikori in Basel, pulling out of his Bercy quarterfinal against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and then losing two out of three matches in the ATP World Tour Finals, including a 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 defeat to Janko Tipsarevic.

“You know, my body says that it’s overload,” Djokovic told reporters. “It has been too much this year. Obviously, mentally I feel a little bit drained. I just don’t have that freshness in my mind for the matches and I don’t have these dynamics that I had in all 10 months of the year. But this is something to be expected after the year that I had. I’ll look forward to going for a much-needed rest.”

LONDON (AP)—It seems every time Roger Federer steps onto the tennis court these days, there’s another milestone within his grasp.

The former top-ranked Swiss star scratched another one off the list on Saturday, reaching his 100th career final by beating David Ferrer of Spain 7-5, 6-3 in the semifinals of the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals. Federer could add a few more on Sunday, as the win puts him in position to win his 70th title overall and a record sixth at the season-ending tournament for the world’s top eight players.

“It’s obviously a special occasion for me tomorrow,” said Federer, who will face the winner of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Tomas Berdych. “Playing my 100th final, possibly winning my 70th, winning my sixth at the World Tour Finals. That would be a record.”

Federer—who holds a record 16 Grand Slam titles—is tied with Ivan Lendl and Pete Sampras with five victories at the ATP finals, formerly known as the Masters Cup. A win on Sunday would also tie Lendl’s record of 39 match victories in the event.

Federer became just the fifth player to reach 100 finals in the open era, joining Jimmy Connors (163), Lendl (146), John McEnroe (108) and Guillermo Vilas (104).

“I’m shocked every time that I’ve reached so many finals or won against so many players or whatever record it is,” Federer said. “It strikes me and makes me obviously very happy and very proud that I’ve been able to do it for so many years at the highest of levels.”

For added measure, Federer also matched childhood hero Stefan Edberg with 806 career wins to sit tied for sixth on the all-time list.

“Stefan was my idol,” Federer said. “So to achieve something that he achieved is obviously very nice. I don’t think it matters much, but it’s still very nice to get reminded that you equaled your idol’s or hero’s achievements.”

In a tournament where his biggest rivals complained of fatigue after failing to make it out of the group stage, the 30-year-old Federer showed no signs of slowing down as he extended his unbeaten streak to 16 matches after winning titles in Basel and Paris before coming to London.

The victory over Ferrer also means Federer will overtake Andy Murray for the No. 3 spot in the year-end rankings, behind No. 1 Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.

Djokovic and Nadal were both eliminated after losing two of their round-robin matches this week, and said their minds and bodies just weren’t up for top-level tennis following another grueling season. Murray pulled out injured following his opening loss to Ferrer on Monday.

But Federer has played some of his best tennis of the year in London, and while he did not look as sharp against Ferrer as he did in his three group-stage victories, he never faced a break point.

He broke the fifth-seeded Spaniard twice in the second set, and converted his second match point with a forehand winner.

Ferrer came within two points of the first set on six different occasions in Federer’s service game when the Spaniard led 5-4. But he never earned a break point in a game that went to deuce five times, and Federer finally held when Ferrer sent a backhand passing shot wide.

That marked a turning point, as Federer won the next four games as well to take control of the match.

“Obviously it was a key 5-4 game for me,” Federer said. “That was a crucial sort of 15, 20 minutes for me. I’m happy I was able to decide the match right there.”

Ferrer dropped to 0-12 against Federer. The Spaniard started the week by beating Murray and Djokovic convincingly, but couldn’t keep up that level of play less than 16 hours after losing a three-set match against Berdych on Friday.

“Maybe I didn’t have really time to relax, but (that) is not the excuse here,” Ferrer said. “He played better than me.”

In the doubles tournament, Max Mirnyi of Belarus and Daniel Nestor of Canada reached the final by beating American twins Bob and Mike Bryan 7-6 (6), 6-4. In the second semifinal, Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes of India were set to take on Polish duo Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski.

LONDON (AP)—The Bryan brothers have been eliminated from the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals, losing 7-6 (6), 6-4 their doubles semifinal to Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor.

The top-seeded Bob and Mike Bryan were looking for the fourth title at the tournament, but the American twins never earned a break point Saturday and lost serve once in the second set.

The brothers are assured of finishing with the No. 1 ranking for the seventh time in nine years.

Mirnyi and Nestor reached the final for the first time as a doubles pair. Both have won the title before with different partners.

In the second semifinal, Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes of India face Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski of Poland.