Federer bounces back with vintage display in Halle

Roger Federer has produced a classy display to secure his 1,100th win on the ATP Tour against lucky loser Yuichi Sugita in the first round of the Gerry Weber Open.

A shock defeat in his Stuttgart opener against Tommy Haas forced Federer to wait for the milestone, but Sugita – who replaced the injured Lu Yen-hsun in the main draw – provided minimal resistance in a 6-3 6-1 victory for the Swiss.

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The 18-time major champion needs 157 more victories in order to surpass Jimmy Connors' all-time record of match wins at Tour level.

A single break in the first set proved enough for Federer – an eight-time champion in Halle – to open up an advantage he never looked in danger of relinquishing, his impressive groundstrokes making life extremely difficult for the Japanese.

Federer raced into a 5-0 lead in the second set but failed to serve out despite having three match points at 40-0 – a long and a wide forehand meaning Sugita avoided the bagel.

The Australian Open champion got the job done in the next game, however, setting up a second-round meeting against Mischa Zverev.

"I had never played him. And playing against me, all are always very motivated," Federer told the Halle Open website.

"That doesn't make it easy, but I'm very satisfied. That was a very good start into the Gerry Weber Open."