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Watch as Roger Federer discusses his straight-sets win over Dominic Thiem and looks ahead to his final Group Lleyton Hewitt match against Kevin Anderson at the Nitto ATP Finals.

Watch Hot Shot as Roger Federer forces Dominic Thiem off the court with an impressive sidespin volley before hitting into the open court to get the better of his opponent at the Nitto ATP Finals. Watch live tennis at tennistv.com.

Roger Federer had his back against the wall on Tuesday at the Nitto ATP Finals. But the six-time season finale champion responded in a major way.

Federer defeated Dominic Thiem 6-2, 6-3 in his second round-robin match of Group Lleyton Hewitt play to maintain his hopes of advancing to the semi-finals of the prestigious tournament for the 15th time in 16 appearances.

Just two days after a shocking straight-sets defeat against Kei Nishikori — the 37-year-old’s first round-robin loss in two sets in 46 group-play matches at the Nitto ATP Finals — Federer had to beat Thiem if he had any hopes of moving forward. And the second seed gave himself a chance, breaking the Austrian four times without facing break point himself to even his FedEx ATP Head2Head series against Thiem at 2-2.

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Federer’s struggles against Nishikori on Sunday evening stemmed from a slew of uncharacteristic errors. But the Swiss was locked in from the first point against Thiem, giving the sixth seed a heavy dose of his backhand slice to goad the Austrian into overplaying with his groundstrokes. That kept Thiem out of rhythm early, provoking a number of unforced errors. And that gave Federer the lead and with it, plenty of confidence.

Thiem interestingly tried to come to net, especially early, to put the pressure on the 99-time tour-level champion. But this year's Buenos Aires, Lyon and St. Petersburg winner made mistakes at the net, failing to convert those opportunities using the element of surprise. 

It was only fitting that the match ended on a missed forehand volley by Thiem, giving Federer the win after 67 minutes. Federer lost just three first-serve points, and captured  47 per cent of return points against Thiem in their first meeting since 2016 in Stuttgart. Thiem entered the season finale in 10th place on the ATP World Tour in first-serve points won, clinching 76.4 per cent of those points. But he was only able to win 56 per cent of them at The O2 on Tuesday evening. 

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Federer is now 16-0 in his second round-robin matches at the Nitto ATP Finals, while Thiem falls to 2-1. The Swiss is trying to avoid early elimination at the tournament for the second time (2008).

Federer will now play Kevin Anderson, the leader of Group Lleyton Hewitt at 2-0, in the final match of group play. While Federer has won four of five FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings against the South African, Anderson stunned the eight-time Wimbledon champion in the quarter-finals at SW19. Prior to that match, Anderson had lost all eight sets he had played against Federer, with none of those sets going to a tie-break.

Did You Know?
Federer has now earned 37 of his 56 wins at the Nitto ATP Finals in straight sets, and he owns a 56-14 record at the event.

In a sport where children regularly fight to provide for their families, Anucha Tasako dies of an apparent brain haemorrhage after a Muay Thai match in Bangkok.

Watch Hot Shot as Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares hold their ground and defend the net under pressure, before finishing in style at the Nitto ATP Finals. Watch live tennis at tennistv.com.

Watch as Kevin Anderson reflects on his 64-minute win over Kei Nishikori at the Nitto ATP Finals. Watch live tennis at tennistv.com.

Less than 48 hours after handing Roger Federer his first straight-sets loss in round-robin play at the Nitto ATP Finals, Kei Nishikori suffered a heavy 6-0, 6-1 defeat to Kevin Anderson on Tuesday.

Narrowly avoiding just the second 6-0, 6-0 scoreline in tournament history, the result equalled the Japanese star's heaviest tour-level defeat following a 6-1, 6-0 loss to Robin Soderling at the 2008 Intrum Stockholm Open. After falling to a 1-1 record in Group Lleyton Hewitt, Nishikori took some time to reflect on the match, which lasted just 64 minutes. The World No. 9, who faces Dominic Thiem on Thursday, will look to regroup on the practice court with a place in the semi-finals still hanging in the balance.

"I think [Kevin] started well. That's why he was more confident after a couple of games. For me, I think I was opposite," said Nishikori. "I lost the second game and I was lost a little bit and just didn't feel the ball today. I played one of the worst matches this year and also he was playing well, too."

Two nights ago, Nishikori's first win over Federer since 2014 appeared to be a continuation of the form that has seen the 28-year-old reach the quarter-finals or better at each of his six tournament appearances since the start of the US Open. Nishikori was clinical on Sunday night, converting both break points he created en route to an 87-minute triumph.

"It wasn't a beautiful match for both of us, against Roger," said Nishikori. "I was happy. I don't think I beat the best Roger two days ago. I was okay. I guess I didn't feel the ball today. It wasn't my day."

Now with a 20-7 record since arriving at the US Open, Nishikori must quickly pick himself up ahead of his final round-robin encounter against Dominic Thiem. The Erste Bank Open 500 finalist, who has reached the last four at the Nitto ATP Finals in two of his previous three appearances, defeated Thiem en route to the championship match in Vienna. But now, with the added pressure of round-robin play and quicker conditions, Nishikori is well aware of the challenge Thiem will present on Thursday.

"It's a different surface [to Vienna]. This one is much quicker," said Nishikori. "He's obviously a good player. He has done really well this year. So, I'm sure it's going to be a tough one. I have got to play, I have to raise my level for sure. Today was a terrible match. I hope I can have good practice tomorrow."

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Five-time former champion Novak Djokovic was impressive in his first match of the 2018 Nitto ATP Finals, winning 42 per cent of return points to defeat big-serving John Isner. And the World No. 1 will look to keep it up on Wednesday when he faces third seed Alexander Zverev.

“Playing Zverev, who also had a straight-sets win today, I look forward to that,” Djokovic said. “It should be a great match. I think [we’ve] played against each other only twice. We split wins. I played him recently in Shanghai, but [he] wasn't at his best. I expect him to play better than he did in Shanghai.”

In that match at the Rolex Shanghai Masters, Djokovic needed just one hour to oust the German, breaking Zverev’s serve four times without facing a break point himself. The Serbian would eventually win his 32nd ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title. He has won 32 of 34 matches since Wimbledon heading into his second clash of round-robin play at The O2.

“I'm feeling fit physically and mentally. I'm looking forward to that match,” said Djokovic, who lost his only previous FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting against Zverev last year in Rome. “I obviously put myself in a very good position with the group with a straight-sets win.”

There are already scenarios in which, after two matches, Djokovic can earn his eighth semi-final berth at the season finale. If the World No. 1 beats Zverev and Isner dismisses Marin Cilic, Djokovic will guarantee his spot in the last four. But if Zverev stuns Djokovic and Cilic defeats Isner, Zverev will be through.

Isner, who is debuting in London at the age of 33, knows that it won’t get easier for him at The O2 after his loss to Djokovic. As the American said, every match is difficult as everyone competing is inside the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings. But he remains positive about his chances of battling into contention for a semi-final spot.

“It's definitely been done before. You lose your first match, you are definitely not out of it. This next match is of course important,” Isner said. “I’ve got to try to stay positive and play a better match on Wednesday and see where I stand after that.”

Cilic holds a 7-3 FedEx ATP Head2Head series lead against Isner. But the American defeated Cilic in their only match this year, in Miami, en route to claiming his maiden ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title. Additionally, Cilic will have to overcome the disappointment of his opening loss against Zverev, a match in which he led by a break in both sets.

“It's not easy also to come back again and push yourself,” said Cilic, who owns a 1-9 record at the Nitto ATP Finals. “But that's also part of the game. [I’m] looking forward to next two matches in the group. Hopefully, I can build up on this match today and that I can play better.”

Did You Know?
Djokovic has won the Nitto ATP Finals five times in his career. And in the times that he has triumphed at the season finale, he tallied a combined 13-2 record in round-robin play.

At just 18, Kalgoorlie golfer Connor Fewkes will be the youngest player in the field at this year's Australian Open golf championship, which tees off in Sydney on Thursday.

Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares became the first team to qualify for the semi-finals at the Nitto ATP Finals on Tuesday night. The fourth seeds beat second-seeded Colombians Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah, for the third time in four meetings this year, 6-4, 6-3 in 73 minutes to move to 2-0 in Group Llodra/Santoro play.

The British/Brazilian team, who win the round-robin group after two matches, improved to 5-2 against Cabal and Farah, which includes three ATP World Tour Masters 1000 clashes this year in Rome, Cincinnati and Shanghai. Murray and Soares are now 40-18 on the year ahead of their final group match against seventh seeds Nikola Mektic and Alexander Peya on Thursday.

“We’re really happy to win,” said Murray. “Really happy to get through to the semi-finals with a match still to go. I think we played a really good match again tonight. It was always going to be difficult against those guys because they always compete so well. Previously, when we played them, we've always felt like we've played well against them, but kind of struggled to close out the matches. Today we did a good job of that. We hd a couple of setbacks in the match, but we fought back hard each time and didn't let it affect us too much.

“We'll be trying to win [our next match]. I think important to kind of maintain the level of performance that we've had the first couple matches. I think winning keeps the confidence going.”

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A forehand return winner from Soares helped the team to an early lead, before Farah clinched the third game on Soares’ serve with a backhand winner down the line. At 4-5, with Cabal serving at 30/30, clever net play from Murray and Soares gave the 2016 year-end No. 1s their first set point, which was converted to end the 38-minute passage of play when Cabal struck a lob long.

Murray came under pressure at the start of the second set, with Farah ripping a forehand winner past Soares to break serve. Murray and Soares broke back immediately, and Murray later seized control of the net to punch away a volley winner to break Cabal for a 3-1 lead. Murray closed out the match with a hold to 15 by keeping Cabal behind the baseline.

Cabal and Farah, winners of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia (d. Carreno Busta/Sousa) in May, dropped to a 38-22 match record on the season. The pair will next meet sixth seeds Raven Klaasen and Michael Venus, who beat Mektic and Peya 7-6(5), 7-6(5) during Tuesday’s evening session. The winner of Thursday’s encounter will qualify for the semi-finals in second place.

The ATP World Tour has been put on notice: Roger Federer’s sons are playing tennis.

"They're only four, yes, but they've played for a few years now," Federer told CNN Sport of his twin sons Leo and Lenny. "We roll the ball and hit it along the ground. The ball can bounce a bit more and they can whack it over the net sometimes."

But don’t forget, Federer has four children. The 37-year-old Swiss star has another set of twins, daughters Charlene and Myla, who are nine.

"The girls also play a little bit," Federer told CNN Sport. "Actually we like them to play a bit because all the friends we have and their kiddies, they all play tennis and it would be a shame if my kids are the only ones who wouldn't play tennis.”

Now imagine that — out of an entire group of friends, Federer’s children not playing tennis. That won’t be happening, though, according to the six-time Nitto ATP Finals champion.

"I want them to do sports because I think it's a great education, it's good to be out there and healthy,” Federer told CNN Sport.

It’s safe to say the Federer children have a pretty good coach in their corner.

Watch highlights as Kevin Anderson cruises past Kei Nishikori in 64 minutes in his second match of the 2018 Nitto ATP Finals. Photo Credit: Peter Staples/ATP World Tour. Watch live tennis at tennistv.com.

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Alex de Minaur got a first taste of centre stage at the Nitto ATP Finals, honoured on court Tuesday at The O2 as the Newcomer of the Year in the 2018 ATP World Tour Awards Presented By Moët & Chandon.

“This is incredible,” he said. “Definitely gives you a lot of hunger to be able to try to make it here. This is definitely one of my goals and I’ll do everything in my power to one day hopefully get here.”

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From outside the Top 200 to open the year, the 19-year-old Australian soared to a career-high No. 31 in 2018 – one of just two teenagers in the year-end Top 100 in ATP Rankings. He finished his breakthrough season last week at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan, where he finished runner-up to Stefanos Tsitsipas, the 2018 Most Improved Player of the Year.

“It’s been an incredible season, starting in Australia, playing in front of the home crowd, and I’ve just been able to enjoy every second even until last week in Milan,” said de Minaur. “It’s been a dream come true, and I’m looking forward to next year.”

De Minaur began his 2018 campaign with a first tour-level semi-final in Brisbane and final in Sydney. He would carry the momentum to the ATP Challenger Tour, where he captured his maiden title in Nottingham in June. He reached his biggest final at the Citi Open, an ATP World Tour 500 event in Washington DC, and earned third-round finishes at Wimbledon and the US Open.

The Newcomer of the Year, as voted by players, is the #NextGenATP star who entered the Top 100 for the first time in 2018 (ATP Ranking as of 15 October) and made the biggest impact on the ATP World Tour this season.

Michael Venus and Raven Klaasen discuss their first victory of the 2018 Nitto ATP Finals against Nikola Mektic and Alexander Peya.

Watch as Kevin Anderson is taken wide on the forehand side by Kei Nishikori, responding with a cross-court forehand blast for a winner at the 2018 Nitto ATP Finals. Photo Credit: Peter Staples/ATP World Tour. Watch live tennis at tennistv.com.

Meeting for the third time in as many tournaments, Kevin Anderson defeated Kei Nishikori for the second time in less than three weeks at the Nitto ATP Finals on Tuesday.

In a repeat of the Erste Bank Open 500 final in Vienna, which Anderson also won in straight sets, the South African raced past Nishikori 6-0, 6-1 to improve to 2-0 in Group Lleyton Hewitt. Anderson landed 10 aces and won 82 per cent of first-serve points to move past Nishikori after 64 minutes.

"[The match was] amongst the best I've played," said Anderson. "I think I did a really good job constantly applying the pressure and not letting up... I kept at it the whole time. I just felt I returned really well, made him hit a lot of shots off his serve.

"He wasn't getting too many free points and I think as I grew, I was growing in confidence and he probably was going a little the other way which is tough given the situation. I felt I did a fantastic job throughout really. Even though I had a lead, I felt a sense of urgency throughout which I thought was really important because I wanted to get that win as best that I could."

With his 47th tour-level victory of the season (47-17), Anderson surpasses his previous best mark of 46 match wins first achieved in 2015. Anderson will become the first African player to qualify for the semi-finals at the elite eight-man event if Dominic Thiem beats Federer, or the Swiss defeats Thiem in three sets, on Tuesday night.

Nitto ATP Finals Semi-final Qualification Scenarios

"I worked really hard as a kid. It is not easy. It is far from the tennis world, the tennis scene growing up in South Africa," said Anderson. "Here I am having achieved a lot of my dreams. Hopefully, I'm a source of inspiration for kids growing up in South Africa to pick up a tennis racquet and hopefully we'll see.

"It takes a lot of time, it is not going to happen overnight. Hopefully, in the next five or 10 years we will see men and women players coming out of South Africa."

Anderson raced into a one-set lead after just 31 minutes, combining powerful serving with aggression on his return to leave Nishikori behind. The Vienna champion took advantage of Nishikori's low first-serve percentage (47 per cent), striking short balls to take time away from his opponent and extract errors.

The 32-year-old wasted no time increasing his advantage in the second set, taking the initiative and standing tall at the baseline to pressure Nishikori. Anderson was just one game away from joining Federer as the only man to win a match at the Nitto ATP Finals 6-0, 6-0, but Nishikori fought his way to a first game with an exquisite backhand drop shot winner. But Anderson confirmed victory in the following game, after Nishikori fired long on his forehand return.

Nishikori, who owns a 20-7 tour-level record since the start of the US Open, will face Dominic Thiem in his final round-robin match on Thursday. The Japanese star is aiming to advance to the semi-finals at The O2 for the third time (2014, 2016).

"I don't even know why I didn't play well today, missing a lot. I don't know. I just didn't feel the ball today. It wasn't my day today," said Nishikori. "I hope I can have a good practice tomorrow, a good session of hitting and just try to forget about today."

Did You Know?
Nishikori's loss equals his heaviest tour-level defeat, matching his 6-1, 6-0 loss to Robin Soderling at the 2008 Intrum Stockholm Open.

Raven Klaasen and Michael Venus held their nerve on Tuesday to record their first victory in Group Llodra/Santoro at the Nitto ATP Finals. The South African-Kiwi tandem improved to 1-1 after the sixth seeds defeated seventh seeds Nikola Mektic of Croatia and Austria’s Alexander Peya 7-6(5), 7-6(5) in one hour and 43 minutes at The O2 in London.

Two days on from a Match Tie-break loss to Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares, first-time qualifiers Klaasen and Venus were made to work hard for their 39th match win of the season (39-24 overall). The duo will next play second-seeded Colombians Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah on Thursday. Klaasen previously reached the 2016 final with Rajeev Ram, while Venus partnered Ryan Harrison last year.

Peya twice came within a point of losing his serve in the first set as Klaasen and Venus targeted the Austrian, who, prior to this prestigious event had not competed since August. Once Klaasen saved a deciding deuce point at 5-5, coming through heavy firepower, Mektic and Peya went on to take 3/1 and 5/3 leads in the tie-break. A big forehand winner from Venus triggered a four-point comeback to clinch the 50-minute set.

Klaasen and Venus kept their opponents under pressure in the second set, with Mektic saving deciding deuce points in the first and fifth games, before making the breakthrough on Peya’s serve for a 4-3 lead. Venus served for the match, but some aggressive returning saw Mektic convert a third break point and grasp a degree of momentum. Klaasen and Venus regrouped to surge to a 5/1 lead in the tie-break prior to a nail-biting finale that ended with a double fault.

Mektic and Peya, who are now 36-20 in their first year as a team, will now play fourth seeds Murray and Soares in their final round-robin group match on Thursday. Mektic is making his debut at the season finale, while Peya qualified in 2013 and 2014 with Soares. Together in 2018, the pair lifted two titles at the Grand Prix Hassan II in Marrakech (d. Paire/Roger-Vasselin) and the Mutua Madrid Open (d. Bryans).

· Striking new look for ATP and tournaments - including new logo and title for the Tour
· Marketing campaign will "engage casual sports fans", drive digital/broadcast engagement and grow tournament attendance
· Changes follow pioneering new format innovations at Next Gen ATP Finals tournament and Amazon Prime broadcast partnership

The ATP has today unveiled a new brand identity and plans for an ambitious global marketing campaign – built around its "Love It All" message, which highlights the unparalleled excitement and drama delivered by every one of the ATP’s 63 tournaments during the season.

Launched during the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals in London, the ambitious plans are designed to transform the way that men’s tennis is promoted across the world. The re-brand includes a new logo, visually-distinctive assets that convey the energy and movement that epitomise world-class tennis, and the shortening of ATP World Tour to simply ATP Tour.

The new brand also reflects the exciting changes and innovation taking place across men’s professional tennis. These include the ATP’s testing of new rules and formats at last week’s Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan – alongside the announcement of the new ATP World Team Cup competition from 2020 and its pioneering broadcast partnership with Amazon Prime announced in 2017.

Chris Kermode, ATP Executive Chairman & President, said: “These ambitious and innovative initiatives will enable us to better engage and inspire sports fans around the world – from hardcore tennis followers to the more casual fans, who might currently only follow our sport during the Nitto ATP Finals or Grand Slam tournaments. This is about showcasing the fantastic entertainment and high-intensity action that is on offer all year round – raising awareness, driving engagement across digital and TV, and packing out stadiums wherever we go.

“We’re taking a bold approach in everything we do at the ATP, from our pioneering broadcast partnership with Amazon Prime to the innovations we’ve been testing out at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan. It’s an exciting time for the sport – with a mix of unbelievable legends still at the top of their game and a next generation of stars emerging – so this is a great time to be engaging new, younger fans around the world.”

The new brand toolkit will be shared with all ATP tournaments, players and partners across the globe so that they can create their own bespoke marketing campaigns - delivering vibrant and exciting content that is consistent with the ATP’s new style and approach. The work includes distinctive new identities for the Nitto ATP Finals, Next Gen ATP Finals, ATP 1000s, ATP 500s and ATP 250 tournaments, as well as over 100 unique player profile brands – from icons like Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic to the next generation of stars such as Alexander Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Denis Shapovalov.

The marketing activity will run across all digital channels, as well as TV advertising delivered through specific ATP tournaments. The campaign will emphasise the “Love It All” message by highlighting the 63 tournaments across 31 countries during the 2019 season – from Brisbane in January to the season-defining Nitto ATP Finals in London.

George Ciz, SVP, Marketing and Business Development at ATP, said: “We wanted to create a striking new look and brand for the Tour which can easily be tailored for the marketing campaigns delivered by each ATP tournament – something simple, impactful and flexible enough for the needs of every player and competition. We also needed to ensure that our creative is really authentic and that it resonates with our target audiences, especially younger fans.

The result is something fun and raw which really conveys the energy and movement we believe makes tennis the most exciting sport in the world. These changes are all about putting the game at the heart of our content – letting the unbelievable action speak for itself.”

ATP has worked with London-based creative agency MATTA to deliver this comprehensive re-brand. Following a competitive pitch process, MATTA was selected to support the ATP in creating the new brand and in helping to promote elite men’s professional tennis to an ever-broader audience.

Matt Hunt, MATTA’s Strategy and Brand Director, commented: “For casual tennis fans there is so much more to explore beyond the Slams, from dramatising the player narratives that emerge, to the fact that fan favourites are followed as much for their personal qualities as their nationality, which is all combined with the unbelievable athleticism and skill they display week in week out. We needed to create a fresh and flexible creative vehicle to convey this breadth and encourage casual fans to love it all.”

“The research we conducted among lighter tennis fans highlighted the need to continue to improve the spontaneous association of the ATP with the sport, so integrating a dynamic and powerful tennis player into the typography was the perfect short cut to achieve this.”

The new ATP brand and marketing campaign will go live on 1 January 2019.

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Alex de Minaur calls it "the best possible way to finish this season" after being presented with the Newcomer of the Year trophy in the 2018 ATP World Tour Awards during an on-court ceremony at the Nitto ATP Finals.

The Matildas make amends for their shock last-start loss, finding the net four times in 17 minutes with striker Caitlyn Foord bagging a hat-trick in a comfortable 5-0 win over Chile in Newcastle.