Federer, Nishikori win at ATP Finals
Tuesday, 11 November 2014
London, Nov 10 (AP/UNB): Experience prevailed over youth as Roger Federer tamed Milos Raonic 6-1, 7-6 (0) in his opening round-robin match at the ATP Finals Sunday after Kei Nishikori started his maiden campaign at the season-ending tournament with a win.
Federer, the most successful player at the elite championship, started brilliantly against the 23-year-old Raonic - the youngest player of the eight-man field - then withstood his assaults in the second set.
The 17-time Grand Slam champion, chasing a seventh title, saved all four break points he faced to avenge his loss to the big-serving Canadian in the quarterfinals of the Paris Masters last week.
"Thankfully he didn't play quite so well, like he did in Paris maybe," the second-seeded Federer said. "He gave me a few shots here and there, especially at the beginning of the breaker. I think those were crucial. I was happy to bring it home because it was very close at the end of the second."
Raonic did not play as freely as he did in the French capital while Federer, who is ten years older than Raonic, returned much better to break his opponent twice in the first set.
Raonic hit 10 aces to Federer's five and gave the Swiss a tougher challenge in the second set as both players held until the tiebreak after Federer saved a set point with a service winner in the 12th game.
The Canadian, one of the three debutants at the O2, then played a terrible tiebreak laced with unforced errors.
"It's obviously disappointing, very disappointing actually, the way I finished that second set off," said Raonic. "He was a lot more consistent on his return games. In Paris, I'd get free points when I hit aces, but today the big difference was when he would get his racket on the ball, he would make me play all the time."
Earlier, Nishikori started his campaign with a 6-4, 6-4 win over home favorite Andy Murray, who is now facing an uphill task to reach the elite tournament's semifinals. After the round-robin stage, the top two finishers in each group will advance.