LONDON, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) -- World No. 5 Kei Nishikori beat British number one Andy Murray while six-time former champion Roger Federer avenged his recent loss to Milos Raonic of Canada in Paris in their Group B matches at the opening day's competition at the ATP World Tour Finals on Sunday.
Nishikori, the first Asian player in history to make the year-ending event, demolished last year's Wimbledon champion 6-4, 6-4 in one hour and 35 minutes.
It was the Japanese player's first victory in his fourth meeting against Murray.
"I was a little bit tight in the beginning, but I started feeling a little more confident in especially second set," said the 24-year-old Nishikori. "I was very, very solid... I was a little bit surprised at how I played on the court: very confident. I'm looking forward to play the next match."
Nishikori struggled in the early stage, saving one break point in the 10-point third game. Murray took a 3-2 lead after a Nishikori double fault, but two double faults in the next game saw the British hope get broken to love. Nishikori broke to wrap up the 47-minute opener.
The Japanese took control then, pulling ahead 3-0 in the second set. Murray fought back and managed to level 4-4, but Nishikori held his serve and broke again for the set 6-4.
"It's obviously disappointing to lose the first match," said Murray. "I would have liked to have done better. I didn't serve well enough today. I would say that was the biggest difference in the match. He was able to dictate a lot of points, especially behind my second serve. That was statistically the part of the match, I mean, that was the part of the match where he had the upper hand. That was the difference.
"Both of us struggled at the beginning of the match...there were a lot of mistakes. Then, he definitely started playing better at the end of the first set and started feeling a bit more comfortable with those conditions."
Second seed Federer improved to a 45-11 record at the season finale with a 6-1, 7-6 (0) victory over the seventh-seeded Raonic, who was making his debut at the tournament.
Federer was at his aggressive best losing just four of his service point to clinch the 25-minute set. Six of his eight winners came from his forehand. Raonic hit five aces.
The 33-year-old Federer has won the ATP World Tour Finals a record six times in three different cities.