ATP basel - Roger Federer advances to the second round

Hoping to win his hometwon event for the sixth time in seven years, world no. 1 Roger Federer beat German qualifier Benjamin Bcker 7-5, 6-3 to move into the second round of the Swiss Indoors in Basel.

The match lasted 88 minutes.

"He did well," Federer comented after his win. "He did serve well when it was important, so credit to him. When I did have my small chances, I hope I could’ve done a little bit better, but overall I’m still very happy with tonight’s performance.

"Ever since my first win here, the pressure has actually gone instead of increased, in my opinion. I feel I can come here and just perform, enjoy and try my best. It’s pretty simple, actually, the approach.

Federer needs to win here in order to end the year as world no. 1 "I know if I lose, I lose points, but I’ve so long gone over this hurdle of having to defend points and this whole rankings system - I know how it works, so it doesn’t really consume me. For me it’s all about trying to play my best, enjoy the crowd and show them what I got. Coming back [to Basel] as the World No. 1 is an amazing feeling, so I think more of that than the pressure of having to win or having to defend or having to win again."

In other matches, no. 3 seed Richard Gasquet beat Dutchman Robin Haase 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 while qualifier Lukasz Kubot beat Slovakia’s Lukas Lacko 6-4, 6-4.