Federer bounces back from Nishikori shocker to see off Thiem in singles

Roger Federer bounced back from his opening-day shocker against Kei Nishikori by sweeping aside Dominic Thiem at the ATP Finals at London’s O2 Arena.

Federer knew anything other than a victory would see him fail to qualify from the group stage for only the second time in 16 appearances at the finals.

The 37-year-old six-time winner grabbed a break in the third game against a nervouslooking Thiem, and a second for 5-2 on his way to taking the first set. Austrian Thiem, who also lost his first match to Kevin Anderson, dropped serve at the start of the second set and again at the end as Federer completed a 6-2 6-3 win.

Federer said: “It feels good, I’m very happy I showed a reaction after the last match against Kei. No match is easy here and it’s not something I’m used to, losing and then coming back and playing again, but it’s a great challenge and I’m happy with my attitude and how I played. It was good fun.”

The Swiss will now face Anderson on Thursday, with Thiem taking on Nishikori and qualification for the semifinals still possible for all four players.

Earlier, Nishikori narrowly avoided only the second 6-0, 6-0 defeat in ATP Finals history against Anderson.

The world No 9 had beaten Federer in the opening roundrobin match on Sunday but was a shadow of that player against 6ft 8in Anderson. Wimbledon runner-up Anderson raced into a 6-0, 5-0 lead to leave Nishikori staring at a dreaded “double-bagel” before the man from Japan finally managed to string a service game together.

It only delayed the inevitable, though, as Anderson duly served out a 6-0, 6-1 victory.

Federer therefore remains the only player to dish out a 6-0, 6-0 defeat at the Finals, against Gaston Gaudio in the last four in 2005.