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 Stanislas Wawrinka pummeled Tomas Berdych 6-1 6-1 in 58 minutes,
then the evening's main course turned into fast food as world number
one Novak Djokovic needed two minutes less to send newcomer Marin
Cilic packing.
Defending champion Djokovic, who also won 6-1 6-1, can clinch the
year-end number one ranking if he wins his next two Group A matches
and few would bet against the Serb doing that.
As for Berdych and Cilic, they have a day to lick their wounds
before meeting on Wednesday in a match both must win to keep their
hopes of reaching the semi-finals alive.
Monday's singles were the most one-sided contests since the Tour
Finals arrived in London in 2009 when eight of the 12 round-robin
matches went to three sets.
None of the four singles matches so far have gone the distance and
organizers and fans alike will be hoping for some excitement in the
days to come.
Djokovic extended his winning streak indoors to 28 matches with a
clinical demolition of U.S. Open champion Cilic, one of three
debutants at the season-ender.
Cilic won the first five points but what happened next was painful
viewing for fans of the 26-year-old, including the Croatian soccer
team who arrived during the first set to cheer their man.
Djokovic picked him apart with relish, claiming his 11th victory
over Cilic in 11 meetings and sending out a reminder to the newest
member of the grand slam club that the ruling class are not ready to
roll over yet.
"It's been a great, great match," Djokovic, who barely broke sweat,
said on court. "I haven't played here for 12 months, it's great to
be back. It was a great performance.
"Marin as a U.S. Open winner has a lot of confidence, but I managed
to neutralize his serve and get a lot of ball back in play and that
was part of the tactic."
Wawrinka, who like Cilic also won his first grand slam this year in
Australia, has been flitting in and out of form since beating Rafa
Nadal in Melbourne and since losing in the quarter-finals of the
U.S. Open had chalked up only one victory.
But his free-flowing game returned with a vengeance against the
hapless Berdych whose timing was badly off.
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"I didn't expect to win that easy for sure," Wawrinka, who made the
semi-finals here last year on his tournament debut, told reporters.
"But I was ready to play well.
"I had a great week of preparation. Today, the start of the match
was really important. That changed it completely."
He came within a point of winning the opening set 6-0 but was
thwarted by a Berdych ace.
His opponent could not turn the tide, however, and Wawrinka wrapped
up victory before the hour mark.
Berdych, who has now lost his opening match here five years in
succession, said he faced "mission impossible" to reach the
semi-finals although Djokovic's drubbing of Cilic could give him
hope in the group permutations.
"Unfortunately, it was my worst match of the whole season, and I
kept it for the start here in the World Tour Finals," Berdych told
reporters."
In doubles play, American top seeds Bob and Mike Bryan, were
surprisingly beaten by Lukasz Kubot (Poland) and Robert Lindstedt
(Sweden) while third seeds Alexander Peya (Austria) and Bruno Soares
(Brazil) edged out Jean-Julien Rojer (Netherlands) and Horia Tecau
(Romania) in a deciding tiebreak.
(Editing by Ed Osmond)
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