Swiss Roger Federer reatcs after winning his 1,500th match of his career at the opening day of the Swiss Indoors tennis tournament in Basel October 21, 2019. — AFP pic
BASEL, Oct 22 — Swiss top seed Roger Federer celebrated his 1,500th ATP match with a commanding 6-2 6-1 win over Germany’s Peter Gojowczyk in the first round of the Swiss Indoors championship in Basel yesterday.
Playing in his hometown, 20-times Grand Slam champion Federer barely broke sweat as he fired 12 aces and won 82 per cent of his first service points, wrapping up the encounter against the hapless German qualifier in 53 minutes.
Gojowczyk, ranked 112th in the world, was broken five times while 38-year-old Federer dropped serve once in the contest.
It was a 21st consecutive win in Basel for the Swiss, who has won the title here nine times, and he used every inch of the court to set up 34 winners.
Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff also advanced in another short encounter that lasted only 61 minutes, firing a whopping 21 aces to beat Serbian youngster Miomir Kecmanovic 6-4 6-2 to advance.
Second seed Alexander Zverev and third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas play their respective first round matches today. — Reuters