Basel (Switzerland), Oct 23 (IANS/EFE) Switzerland’s Roger Federer, the No. 3 seed, got off to a good start in his hometown tournament, defeating France’s Adrian Mannarino 6-4, 6-2 in the first round of the Swiss Indoors in Basel.
Federer’s next opponent will be Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin, who beat Argentina’s Horacio Zeballos 7-5, 7-6 (7-3) on Tuesday.
The 32-year-old Federer, whose ranking has dropped to No. 7, is trying to make it into the eight-man field for the year-end ATP World Tour Finals for the 12th straight year.
Federer, winner of a record 17 Grand Slam men’s singles titles, has won 48 matches in Basel, where has been the champion five times.
The Swiss great, who has been struggling in the past few months, is trying to win his second title of the season in his hometown.
Federer parted ways with his coach, American Paul Annacone, earlier this month.