Second seed Roger Federer made it two wins out of two against Kei Nishikori at the ATP World Tour Finals on Tuesday.
The Swiss defeated fourth seed Nishikori 6-3 6-2 to surge ahead 3-2 in their ATP head-to-head series and keep his chances of progressing to the semi-finals of the season-ending tournament alive.
The Swiss, who is bidding for his seventh season finale title, could clinch his last four berth, if Milos Raonic beat home favourite Andy Murray or the Briton wins in three sets in the second Group B match later in the day.
The Swiss hit 11 winners, including four aces, in the 35-minute first set against Nishikori, who required attention on his right wrist for the second match in a row while trailing 4-1 in the second set.
Federer, 33, is bidding to become the oldest player to top the ATP year-end ranking- a record currently held by Ivan Lendl after finishing at the summit in 1989 at 29 years and 9 months. He is also looking to join Pete Sampras as the other player to have ended a year atop the ranking for a sixth time, but presently trail world number one Novak Djokovic by 1, 310 points.
Tuesday’s win was Federer’s 70th this year and he is 13-0 in second round robin matches at the tournament.
