Federer opens with win over Ferrer in ATP finals

Federer, a four-time champion at the tournament for the world's top eight players, stretched his record to 11-0 against the seventh-ranked Spaniard, winning 6-1, 6-4 on the indoor hard court.

"I'm really happy the way I was able to get out of the first match here," said Federer, who will face Andy Murray on Tuesday in the round-robin tournament. "Starting off with a feisty top-10 player is never easy."

The fifth-ranked Murray defeated Robin Soderling 6-2, 6-4 in the early match.

Ferrer was playing at the ATP finals for the first time since losing to Federer in the 2007 final. And he looked nervous at the start, allowing Federer to break him in all three service games in the first set. The Spaniard's only winning game came on Federer's serve while already trailing 4-0.

"I served very bad through all the match," Ferrer said. "With Roger, it's impossible to take the chance if you (don't) serve good."

Federer and Murray are in Group B at the tournament. Group A will take the court today with top-ranked Rafael Nadal facing Andy Roddick and Novak Djokovic playing Tomas Berdych.

Murray, who dropped one spot below No. 4 Soderling in last week's rankings, kept the ball from the Swede's strong forehand.

"I played very smart tennis today," Murray said. "And even when obviously it was getting tough in the second set, a lot of long rallies, I was on the defensive quite a lot, stuck to my tactics well and managed to come through."

Soderling had only five forehand winners while committing 12 unforced errors.

"He was defending really well," Soderling said. "I was hitting the ball pretty hard sometimes, try to be aggressive. Every time I came to the net, he came up with a really good shot."

Drop shots

• The ATP is extending its off-season from five to seven weeks, starting in 2012, without reducing the number of tournaments. The decision, announced Sunday, was approved by the ATP Board.