BASEL: Top-seeded Roger Federer added a sixth title to his success story at the Swiss Indoors with the top seed crushing David Goffin 6-2, 6-2 in Sunday’s final to end a run of two successive final defeats at his home-town tournament.

Federer took just 52 minutes to win, delighting the partisan crowd as he inflicted what was only Belgian Goffin’s third defeat in 46 matches.

The first set lasted 23 minutes as Federer dropped just one point in the final three games.

The 33-year-old Federer was playing in his 11th final in his home-town and has now beaten Goffin, who beat beat Croatian wildcard Borna Coric 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in Saturday’s semi-final, in both of their meetings.

Federer, who beat another Croat Ivo Karlovic 7-6 (7-3), 3-6, 6-3 in the other semi-final, won his 82nd career title and also moved a step closer to clinching the year-end No. 1 spot for a record-equalling sixth time.

The Swiss maestro is now only 500 points behind Novak Djokovic in the ATP rankings with a combined 2,500 points available at the Paris Masters and ATP World Tour Finals in London.

MURRAY OUSTS FERRER TO BOOST LONDON BID

VALENCIA: Andy Murray took another step towards securing a berth at next month’s World Tour finals when he fought off a typically dogged David Ferrer to win 6-4, 7-5 and move into the final of the Valencia Open on Saturday.

A wildcard at the Spanish indoor hardcourt event, which he won in 2009, 10th-ranked Murray is eighth in the race to secure a spot at the season-ending tournament in London and will play unseeded Spaniard Tommy Robredo in Sunday’s showpiece.

Robredo, a semi-finalist in Valencia in 2008 when the event was played outdoors on clay, edged Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 7-6 (9-7), 7-6 (7-2) in Saturday’s second semi-final.

Murray has been on a late-season charge and won the Vienna title last week when he came from a set down to beat world number five Ferrer in the final.

Top-seeded Spaniard Ferrer remains well placed to make the Tour finals and, along with Murray, will look to secure his spot by collecting points at next week’s Paris Masters.

Published in Dawn, October 27th, 2014