Federer cruises past Tipsarevic

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 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. The win also earned Federer another piece of history as it was his 40th in the competition, moving him ahead of Ivan Lendl, with whom he had jointly held the record.

Federer declared himself in good shape after his week off, which followed a final defeat by Juan Martin Del Potro in his home town of Basle.

As well as another record on the court, Federer also made history off the court this week when he was voted fans’ favourite in the ATP World Tour awards for a 10th straight year. The 31-year-old credited the support he receives for his longevity, saying: “It really seems to be everywhere I go I get a lot of fan support. So for me that’s a big thrill, probably one of the reasons also I’m still playing today.”

Tipsarevic refused to blame his problems with illness for the defeat, and said: “I think Roger was just too good.”