There was the odd flight of fantasy, but Roger Federer’s 6-1, 6-4 win over David Ferrer at the ATP World Tour Finals in London on Sunday was more about functionality. The Swiss got the job done in a very reasonable one hour and 27 minutes. Federer’s five total games lost puts him one ahead of Andy Murray—who beat Robin Soderling 6-2, 6-4 earlier—in the Group B standings, and in good shape heading into their meeting on Tuesday.
Ferrer, 0-10 lifetime versus Federer, played a feeble first set, failing to hold serve even once and making 17 unforced errors against five winners. Upping the volume of his breathy grunting and tightening up his play, the Spaniard made things competitive in the second set, forcing Federer to save five break points. That included three in the final game, when Federer looked a little shaky. But the world No. 2 saved the first two from 15-40 with a backhand that forced an error, then with a service winner. He had some luck on the third when Ferrer missed a makeable forehand wide. Two points later, Federer wrapped things over with his sixth ace. It was an ideal opener, with just enough hiccups to force some top tennis in sketchy situations. Federer did that in spite of losing most of the extended rallies; he also didn't serve well until the last couple of games.
As for Ferrer, he now joins Jarkko Nieminen with the longest current streak of futility against Federer—0 for 11, and counting.
Federer, who had looked slightly misty-eyed during a presentation to the retiring Carlos Moya after Murray’s match, was awarded the ATP World Tour Fans’ Favorite award after his match. He said, “It makes me really proud to be a fans’ favorite for such as long time (eight years in a row) because I guess it’s not an easy thing to keep it together for such a long time on the tour. But I’m able to do a pretty good job and I’m happy you guys like it.”
They may also like his rust-colored shirt and matching headband and wristband, an upgrade from his recent lavender color scheme.
Here’s a final question—when Federer sat down leading 4-3 lead in the second set, Shakira’s hit song “Gypsy” was played during the change-over. Will organizers have the cheek to play it on Monday, or later in the week, when Rafael Nadal is playing?
—Tom Tebbutt