Federer vows to bounce back in Stockholm Open

Roger Federer landed in Stockholm on Monday afternoon to make good on the promise he was unable to keep two years ago, with the Swiss keen to bounce back after his finals loss to Andy Murray in Shanghai. The 16-time Grand Slam winner announced on his Facebook page in early evening that he was finally on the ground in the Swedish capital after leaving China earlier in the day. He will begin his Stockholm Open campaign Thursday evening in the second round after playing here in 2000 and losing in the second round to Sweden’s Andreas Vinciguerra. The world number two will take to the court against the winner from American Taylor Dent and Michael Przysiezny from Poland. In 2008, Federer withdrew from much of the autumn season to rest after beating glandular fever earlier in the year. One of his scheduling victims was the modest Stockholm event, now run by former playing colleagues Thomas Johansson and Jonas Bjorkman. There is now no stopping the Swiss from fulfilling what he believes is an important obligation to the event. “I felt like I owed Stockholm to come back there,” he said in Shanghai after losing his title bid in straight sets Sunday to Murray. “I’m good friends with Bjorkman and Johansson. “It was disappointing pulling out there a couple of years ago. That was the decision behind that.” Stockholm is the beginning of the end of Federer’s season which still includes his home event in Basel from November 1, the Paris Masters and the eight-man season final in London next month. “I hope also by playing Stockholm is going to help me to play well in Basel, Paris and then London. There are still a lot of points to pick up and many important events for me,” said the owner of a mere two titles (Australian Open, Cincinnati Masters) this year. Federer admits that part of the reason for his stepped-up autumn programme is his lack of success at the two summer Grand Slams. “The French and Wimbledon (quarter-final defeats at both) were nothing as brutal as last year. That’s why also for me it was a big priority at the beginning of the year to play Shanghai. I was considering either playing the week before Shanghai or the week after.” With Federer on the top seeding, Swedish rival Robin Soderling - who lost 6-1 6-1 to the Swiss in a Shanghai semifinal blowout - stands second ahead of Wimbledon finalist Tomas Berdych and Croatian Ivan Ljubicic. Federer’s compatriot the fifth seeded Stanislas Wawrinka was the star on show on Monday and won 12 of 14 games on his way to beating Italian Andreas Seppi 6-2 6-2. The 21st-ranked wild card winner went through in 79 minutes, converting on five of 16 break chances and improved to 32-16 on the season. Swede world number 392 Michael Ryderstedt earned his first ATP-level win of 2010 with a defeat of Spain’s Daniel Gimeno-Traver 7-6 (7/3) 6-3. Finn Jarkko Nieminen struck 45 winners and recovered from a break in the final set to knock out German Michael Berrer 4-6 6-1 6-4.