Old man Federer just keeps rolling along as Murray hopes he has maths on his side

Roger Federer rolls on, the not-so-old man by the river – yet not so convincingly in dispatching David Ferrer in two tough sets to suggest strongly he is going to win his seventh title here, the third in a row. He is the first to qualify for the weekend’s climax to the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, though, and that will be a comfort.

As with all Federer performances, there was artistry, but, when the job needed a shovel rather than a brush, he looked ill at ease, having to save nine of 10 break points, fighting against his serve and struggling to control his normally flawless ground strokes.

There were enough worrying dips in yesterday’s 6-4, 7-6 win to feed the hopes of his peers. Can Novak Djokovic or Andy Murray do to the 31-year-old Swiss what the 30-year-old Spaniard could not? On this showing, yes.

Here was the recent world number one labouring against a player who, for all his fine attributes, brought so little to their 13 previous encounters that he could not manage a single win.

Before the match Ferrer articulated the reason for the disparity: “He’s just a better player than I am.” And there was no denying a more obvious truth: a second-gear Federer was still too good for a Ferrer revving near the red-line. “He makes you hit the extra shot,” Federer said of Ferrer. “He makes it physical. You know that mentally he’s not going to go anywhere. That’s why he has so much respect from his fellow competitors.”

But, after he had secured his 14th win over this most rugged of sparring partners, they met at the net like old friends – and Federer’s smile said it all.

Andy Murray, still holding his aching body together with grit and plaster at the end of a momentous season, is about to have his first Christmas at home in a few years – although he would prefer his holiday did not start immediately after his match against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga tonight.

Defeat by the Frenchman would almost certainly put the Scot out of the semi-finals. Of the 10 possible scenarios in the group, four would see him survive, including one in which he loses to Tsonga in three sets, as long as Novak Djokovic takes three sets to account for Tomas Berdych earlier on.

Guardian Service