Switzerland’s Roger Federer plays a return to Canada’s Milos Raonic during their ATP World Tour tennis finals match at the O2 Arena in London. (AP)
LONDON — 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.
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.
“Obviously now I need to win my next two matches more than likely, and win them well if I want to go through,” said Murray, who missed last year’s tournament after undergoing surgery on his back.
“That’s going to be tricky because Milos obviously played fantastic last week in Paris, and Roger always plays well at this event. So I’m definitely going to have to play better if I want to get through.”
The fourth-seeded Nishikori — the first Asian player to qualify for the year-end championship — secured important points in the tough Group B before taking on Federer on Tuesday.
Murray, who had never lost a set to the Japanese newcomer in their three previous matches, only sealed his spot at the season finale last week in Paris.