Federer races to 47-minute win at Basel

Roger Federer continued his push for the year-end ATP World Tour No. 1 spot on Wednesday when he began his bid for a sixth title at the Swiss Indoors Basel.

Top seed Federer improved to 5-0 lifetime against Gilles Muller in a 6-2, 6-1 victory over just 47 minutes on Wednesday evening.

Federer hit 12 winners, including five aces in the 24-minute opener and did not lose any of his service points in the second set.

"I am very happy with how the first round went here," said Federer. "It was totally different to Shanghai, when I saved five match points [versus Leonardo Mayer]. This time around, I was really in control from the get-go. I hope I can keep this level up."

The Swiss superstar is now 52-9 lifetime at the ATP World Tour 500 tournament, where he has reached 10 finals (5-5 record). He adds 45 points to his ATP Race To London tally and now stands 945 points behind No. 1-ranked Novak Djokovic, who welcomed the arrival of his first child, Stefan, yesterday.

Federer will next meet Denis Istomin in the second round on Thursday.

"He really imposes his game, with a big forehand, backhand and serve," said Federer of Istomin. "He can be dangerous on return too. I have to be sharp on my own service games, which was a problem here against him last year."

Date: 22nd October 2014, Source: ATP