Federer beats Tipsarevic for starters

Published on 07/11/2012 00:22

ROGER Federer wasted little time in opening the defence of his Barclays ATP World Tour Finals crown with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Janko Tipsarevic at London’s O2 Arena.

The Swiss star is looking for a hat-trick of titles in Greenwich and a seventh at the tournament overall having set a new record with his final triumph over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 12 months ago.

Federer, who opted against defending his Paris Masters crown last week to prepare for London, took control from the off, to the delight of his many fans in the arena, breaking the Tipsarevic serve in the second game and cruising through the rest of the first set.

Tipsarevic, a direct entrant here because of Rafael Nadal’s withdrawal through injury, had never beaten Federer in five previous meetings so the omens were not good. He held serve at the start of the second set but from there the second seed did not lose a game, polishing off victory in only an hour and eight minutes.

In the later Group B match David Ferrer extended his indoor winning streak to 11 matches with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 victory over Juan Martin Del Potro.