Dominant Federer on high in ATP World Tour Finals

Andy Murray of Great Britain serves against Robin Soderling of Sweden in a singles match during the Barclays ATP World Tour Tennis Finals in London, on November 21, 2010. Murray won 6-2, 6-4. AFP PHOTO/GLYN KIRK Source: AFP

Federer arrived in London for the prestigious end-of-year event, featuring the world's top eight players, in the unusual position of not being the sport's preeminent force after a relatively unsuccessful campaign by his high standards.

Although he started the season by winning the Australian Open, he lost his grip on the Wimbledon and French Open titles he won in 2009 and failed to return to the US Open final.

But, of course, what constitutes a slump for Federer would still be a season to remember for most of his peers.

He had won 12 matches in a row before losing to Gael Monfils in the Paris Masters recently and if anything could put a spring in his step it was the sight of Ferrer across the net.

Ferrer, 28, had lost all 10 of his previous meetings with the Swiss star, including a defeat in the 2007 final of this event when it was staged in Shanghai.

Although Ferrer has returned to the top 10 for the first time in three years after reaching five finals and winning two titles this season, the gap in class between he and Federer was immediately apparent.

Federer, who has won this title four times, wasted no time taking control as he unfurled a typically dazzling array of groundstrokes.

He broke in Ferrer's first service game and then again two games later to open up a 4-0 lead.

Like the rest of the crowd, Argentine football legend Diego Maradona, watching from the stands after earlier seeing Manchester City thrash Fulham across London at Craven Cottage, couldn't fail to be impressed by such a commanding display.

Ferrer briefly stemmed the tide with a break of his own, but Federer simply increased the tempo of play and broke again in a marathon sixth game, which included six deuces, before serving out the set.

To his credit, Ferrer refused to throw in the towel in the second set, yet Federer was able to hit too many winners to be kept at bay for long.

The Swiss broke for a 3-2 lead after frustrating Ferrer with some sturdy defence as his opponent tried to wrestle back the initiative.

Even that blow didn't completely discourage Ferrer and he earned two break points in the next game. However, the Spaniard couldn't convert either as Federer produced some big serves to maintain his lead.

When Federer came to serve for the match at 5-4, he seemed to lose concentration and Ferrer was able to earn three break points.

Yet again though, Federer kept his poise and fought off all three break points before clinching the win with an ace.

Meanwhile, Andy Murray won his first match at the ATP World Tour Finals, beating Robin Soderling 6-2, 6-4.

 The fifth-ranked Murray, who dropped below No. 4 Soderling in last week's rankings, kept the ball away from the Swede's strong forehand on the indoor court at the O2 Arena.

``I played very smart tennis today,'' Murray said. ``And even when obviously it was getting tough in the second set, a lot of long rallies, I was on the defensive quite a lot, stuck to my tactics well and managed to come through.''

Soderling, who again reached the French Open final this year and won the Paris Masters for the first time, had only five forehand winners while committing 12 unforced errors with his often dominating shot.

 ``He was defending really well,'' Soderling said. ``I was hitting the ball pretty hard sometimes, try to be aggressive. Every time I came to the net, he came up with a really good shot.''

 Murray looked to be the more solid player throughout, facing only one break point in the match while converting three of his six.

The Briton earned his first break early in the match, hitting a backhand winner off Soderling's serve to make it 2-1. He converted another to make it 5-2 and then served out the first set with a drop shot that hit the line.

``First set was not very good. I wasn't really there,'' Soderling said. ``I think second set was better. But he played better than me today.''

In the second set, the pair traded games until 3-3, when Murray broke again soon after taking a 0-40 lead in the seventh game.

``Second set I had to do a lot of running,'' Murray said. ``Didn't always go for the lines. I hit a lot down to his feet, just made him play a lot of uncomfortable shots.''

Murray and Soderling are in Group B at the round-robin tournament.

Top-ranked Rafael Nadal who is in Group A, faces Andy Roddick while Novak Djokovic plays Tomas Berdych.

In doubles, top-ranked Bob and Mike Bryan of the USdefeated Jurgen Melzer of Austria and Philipp Petzschner of Germany  6-3, 7-5.