The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Federer handed shock defeat
Swiss star loses to Nishikori in straight sets for first opening loss at finals
Roger Federer lost his opening roundrobin match at the ATP Finals for the first time last night at London’s O2 arena.
The 37-year-old Swiss is bidding to win his 100th career singles title, as well as record a seventh Finals crown, and a first since 2011.
Federer had won his previous 15 opening matches at the season-ending event, but put in an error-strewn display against Kei Nishikori.
Nishikori, Japan’s world number nine, had lost his previous six matches against Federer but, after winning a first-set tiebreak, held his nerve to rack up a thoroughly deserved 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 victory.
Kevin Anderson made up for lost time on his debut with victory over Austria’s Dominic Thiem.
The South African, making his first appearance in the prestigious tournament at the age of 32, won 6-3 7-6 (12-10) in an hour and 47 minutes.
Anderson, who was Wimbledon runner-up this year on his way to climbing to number six in the world, dropped just four points on his serve in a dominant opening set while forcing seven break points against the occasionally erratic Thiem serve.
He only required one of them to clinch the first set, and then edged Thiem out in a tense 17-minute tie-break by converting a fourth match point with his 13th ace of the match.