Federer ends season with second round defeat

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Swiss tennis star Roger Federer saw his season come to an end on Thursday after he was beaten in the second round of the Stockholm Open by Sweden's Andres Vinciguerra.

Rather than being disappointed with his early exit, the 19-year-old from Basel said he was happy that the season was over.

“I’m exhausted,” he explained. “Since the tournament in Basel (where Federer lost in the final to another Swede, Thomas Enqvist), I haven’t been playing my sort of tennis.”

In the match against Vinciguerra, Federer appeared comfortable only in his service, hitting a high percentage of successful first serves including six aces.

But he was less convincing in the rallies and lost the first set 7-5 after being broken late on. A revival seemed to be on the cards in the second set, but after taking a 4-2 lead Federer again gave way before losing the resulting tie-break 7-3.

The defeat ensured that Marc Rosset ended the year as Swiss number one, after overtaking Federer in the world rankings just last week. The Swiss youngster now intends to recharge his batteries with a two-week holiday in South Africa.

swissinfo with agencies