Anderson outmuscles Thiem to win ATP Finals opener. by John WEAVER

Kevin Anderson made an impressive debut at the ATP Finals on Sunday, beating

Dominic Thiem 6-3, 7-6 (12/10) as Roger Federer prepared to launch his bid for

the 100th title of his storied career. South African giant Anderson came into

the match with a healthy 6-2 lead over Thiem in head-to-heads but had lost

their two most recent meetings, including a straight-sets defeat at the US

Open. The Wimbledon finalist, who stands at 2.03 metres (six feet eight

inches) tall, established an early grip on the match at London's O2 arena,

dominating the early exchanges and securing the crucial break in the fourth

game. The 32-year-old, making his debut at the season finale, won 84 percent

of his points on serve in the first set, compared with just 58 percent for his

ragged Austrian opponent. Thiem tightened up his game in the second set and

looked far more aggressive, with his serving numbers rocketing higher but

Anderson held firm to take the set into a tie-break. In a see-saw tie-break,

25-year-old Thiem had two chances to level the match but Anderson kept his

cool to seal the victory with an ace on his fourth match point. "I definitely

felt a little bit nervous," said Anderson. "But I was able to settle very

quickly and find a really good rhythm, taking care of my serve games nicely,

created quite a few opportunities on his serve. "He wasn't serving at, you

know, well, a very high first serve percentage... I think overall just getting

off to a good start helped me a lot today." Anderson, who reached a career-

high ranking of number five in July, said he was getting more used to dealing

with pressure situations. "It doesn't always work out but I definitely feel

like I'm getting more and more comfortable in those situations, in settings

like today, against some of the best players in the world," he said. In the

later match in the Lleyton Hewitt group, second seed and six-time champion

Roger Federer takes on Japan's Kei Nishikori. The title is contested by the

eight players who have accumulated the most ranking points over the season and

is in a round-robin format, with the best four players reaching the knockout

semi-finals stage. World number one Novak Djokovic, who heads the Guga Kuerten

group, will be in action on Monday against John Isner while Alexander Zverev

takes on Marin Cilic. Djokovic, who replaced Rafael Nadal at the top of the

rankings last week, was Sunday presented with the 2018 year-end ATP World Tour

number one trophy. He is one of only four players in ATP rankings history

(since 1973) to have clinched the year-end top spot on five or more occasions,

joining Pete Sampras (six), Jimmy Connors and Federer (both five times). DM