Nadal bosses Ferrer in London opener

Ferrer had beaten the world number one three days previously in the semi-finals of the Paris Masters.

Rafael Nadal put fellow Spaniard David Ferrer firmly in his place as he opened his ATP World Tour Finals challenge with a crushing 6-3 6-2 victory at the o2 Arena on Tuesday.

Ferrer had beaten the world number one three days previously in the semi-finals of the Paris Masters but normal service was resumed as Nadal profited from an error-strewn display by his weary-looking opponent.

Nadal joins Stanislas Wawrinka on top of Group A with one win and he now needs one more victory at the season-ending tournament to finish 2013 on top of the ATP rankings.

Ferrer,ranked third in the world,briefly rallied after slipping 5-0 behind in the second set,snatching a couple more games,but he succumbed meekly when he dragged a forehand into the net.

Later on Tuesday defending Novak Djokovic,who still has a slim chance of overtaking Nadal in the rankings,begins his Group B matches with a repeat of last year’s final against six-times winner Roger Federer.

Then,in Mondays evening session,former US Open champion Del Potro came from a set down to eventually subdue French stylist Richard Gasquet 6-7(4),6-3,7-5 to open Group B.

World No.9 Gasquet,looked on course for victory against towering Argentine Del Potro. World No.5 Del Potro gradually found his range and the match swung his way in the fourth game of the second set when Gasquet lost a 40-0 lead to drop serve after the Argentine fired two pile-driving forehands. Gasquet threatened to break back when Del Potro served at 5-3 but,faced with an easy smash,which would have put him up 15-40,the Frenchman dumped the ball into the bottom of the net. Gasquet will probably need to beat either Djokovic or Federer to keep alive his hopes.

Paes-Stepanek win too

Story continues below this ad

Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek made a stupendous start to their campaign at the year-end ATP World Tour finals as they shocked second seeds Alexander Peya and Bruno Soares in a closely-fought Group B match.

Paes and Stepanek pair beat the Austria-Brazilian combination 6-3,5-7,10-8 in one hour and 42 minutes. Paes and Stepanek served well and had four chances to break their rivals in the second set but Peya and Soares saved them all. The Indian dropped his serve from 40-15 it in the 12th game of the second set to send the match into a Super Tie breaker.

The Indo-Czech pair is now second in the four-team Group B,behind Spanish combo of David Marrero and Fernando Verdasco. PTI