Roger Federer started his bid for a seventh ATP Tour Finals title in record-breaking fashion as the Swiss great crushed Janko Tipsarevic 6-3, 6-1 at London's O2 Arena.
Federer's victory took him to 40 match wins in his 11 appearances at the prestigious season-ending event, breaking the previous record of 39 held by Ivan Lendl.
The 31-year-old already has a record six titles in the event after winning the tournament for the last two years and he looks in the mood to complete a hat-trick on the evidence of this emphatic Group B victory over the Serbian eighth seed in just one hour and eight minutes.
"I'm very happy I played so well because Janko's a great player," Federer said.
"I've had a great year but I hope it's not over yet.
"It's my third trip to London this year. The other two were pretty good and I hope something similar is going to happen this week."
Tipsarevic had been suffering from a virus for several days leading up to the tournament and was forced to withdraw from his Paris Masters quarter-final last week due to exhaustion.
It was hardly ideal circumstances to face a fired-up Federer and the Swiss showed no mercy, breaking in the second game and racing into a 3-0 lead.
Federer had won all five of his previous meetings with Tipsarevic and, with the Serb having no impact on his opponent's serve, the first set was over in 30 minutes.
Tipsarevic staved off two break points in the third game of the second set, but Federer kept dictating play from the baseline and he finally induced a miscued forehand from the Serb to break for a 2-1 lead.
Scenting blood, Federer delivered the killer blow with a blazing forehand for another break that ended any hopes of a Tipsarevic revival.
"I was striking the ball well today," Federer said.
"I hope it's a sign for more to come. I'm happy the first one went so well and it takes the pressure off looking ahead in the next couple of matches."
Meanwhile, Spain's David Ferrer extending his winning run to 11 matches with a hard-fought 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 victory over Juan Martin del Potro.
"I am very happy. It was a top match," Ferrer said.
"It was very difficult to play against Juan Martin, but I hope the people enjoyed our tennis.
"I don't know the secret of my good form. It has been the best season of my career. Maybe it's because I didn't have a big injury."
AFP
Tags: tennis, sport, england, united-kingdom First posted November 07, 2012 07:23:06
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