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Federer makes solid start on favourite hunting ground

Roger Federer has reached the final of the Swiss Indoors in each of the last five years © Getty Images

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Roger Federer's pursuit of a fifth title at the Swiss Indoors in Basel got off to a winning start on Monday after he defeated a determined Potito Starace.

Federer was appearing in his first competitive match since September 18, and he took time to settle against an opponent to whom he had never lost. A tiebreaker was necessary to decide a tight first set, after which the former world No. 1 clinched a 7-6(3) 6-4 victory.

This was the first occasion since 2003 at Wimbledon that Federer had entered a tournament outside the world's top three players. He came with an excellent record in Basel though, reaching the final on the last five occasions - losing only once in 2009.

He struggled to get to grips with the serve of Starace, and after 10 games that did not throw up a single break chance, when one finally arrived it was the Italian who created it. Crucially, Federer defended in order to force the breaker, which he took with relative ease.

There was still little to choose between the two players in the second set, but Federer did on this occasion create and convert a break point to extend his head-to-head record against Starace to 6-0.

Marcos Baghdatis is also through to the second round after the Cypriot came through a tough three-setter with eighth seed Viktor Troicki to triumph 4-6 7-6(8) 6-2. Baghdatis needed almost three hours on court to see off Troicki by the odd break of serve in nine.

Mikhail Kukushkin, a lucky loser replacement for the injured Jurgen Melzer, was the other winner in Switzerland, beating wildcard Donald Young 6-4 6-2.

At the Valencia Open, the match of the day went the way of Nikolay Davydenko after he defeated fifth seed and world No. 12 Gilles Simon. The result puts a big dent in Simon's hopes of qualifying for the ATP World Tour Finals.

Davydenko has been scratching around for form in recent weeks, and he only won six of 21 points on his second serve. However, he was far more authoritative behind his first serve, winning 78 per cent of points to win 6-4 4-6 6-3.

Others to reach the second round included Fabio Fognini, Nicolas Mahut and Vasek Pospisil, the latter of whom beat John Isner 6-3 3-6 7-6(9).

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