Roger Federer Dismisses David Ferrer in London Tournament

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(November 21, 2010) There is a time and place for everything, and facing Roger Federer anytime on a tennis court is not the time or place for David Ferrer.

Obliterating any opening-night jitters, Federer continued his career mastery of Ferrer with a 6-1, 6-4 dissection in the ATP World Tour Finals at London's O2 Arena.

The first match of the season-ending event has been a stumbling block in recent years for Federer, who had lost his round-robin opener in two of the past three years.

Ferrer's grinding baseline anecdote provided a palatable remedy for Federer's past first-match struggles. Ferrer forces opponents to play a lot of balls but gives up ample court space running around his forehand and does not have enough sting on his serve to trouble the ultra-talented Swiss.

Alternating between overpowering and outmaneuvering Ferrer at times, Federer raised his lifetime record against the feisty Ferrer to 11-0. 

The victory came hours after hometown favorite Andy Murray dismissed Robin Soderling 6-2, 6-4 in the opening singles match of Group B play.

"I think tactically it was a great match," said Murray. "I think I played very smart tennis today. Obviously it was getting tough in the second set [with] a lot of long rallies. I was on the defensive quite a lot, [but I] stuck to my tactics well and managed to come through."

Murray whipped 27 winners in beating Soderling for the first time since February 2006 at the SAP Open in San Jose. Murray raised his record to 6-3 against top 10 opponents this year.

The second-seeded Federer and fifth-seeded Murray are both 1-0 in Group B play. The top two players in each of the four-man groups advance to Saturday's semifinals.

Asserting control early, Federer hit a backhand return down the line, drawing a wild running forehand from Ferrer as Federer, who hit an exquisite forehand drop volley slathered with side spin earlier in the game, broke for 2-0.

Navigating through a deuce game, Federer held for 3-0 and immediately broke for a 4-0 advantage.

The fundamental issue Ferrer faces in Federer is you can't win if you can't hold, and Federer kept the quick-footed Spaniard under almost constant pressure in breaking three times in the first set.

Getting on the board required some offensive acrobatics. Ferrer ran down a drop volley, sliced a backhand approach and then soared to smack a slam winner, ending a 22-shot rally and earning break point. On a second serve, Ferrer ran around a backhand and ripped an inside-out forehand return, eliciting an error and breaking for 1-4.

Trying to consolidate, Ferrer fought off three break points but knocked his third double fault of the game beyond the service line to end an eight-minute game and hand Federer the break back and a 5-1 lead.

Federer used an ace and serve winner to reach set point. A Federer forehand down the line hit the top of the tape and fell over as Federer closed out the set.

Creating extreme angles with his inside-out forehand, a feisty Ferrer fought off a break point and eventually held for a 2-1 second-set edge. Federer broke for a 3-2 lead and then withstood an eight-minute, 39-second game, ending with an ace and serve winner for 4-2.

Serving for the match at 5-4, Federer encountered some complications. He fought off break points and got a break when Ferrer misfired on a relatively routine inside-out forehand that would have evened the set. Two points later, Federer fired an ace down the middle to wrap up a 6-1, 6-4 victory. 

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