LONDON -- Roger Federer made light work of Richard Gasquet to clinch his first win at the ATP World Tour Finals, defeating the Frenchman 6-4, 6-3 on Thursday to boost his chances of making the semifinals for an 11th time. In a match pitting together two stylists, the sixth-seeded Swiss quickly took control and broke Gasquet four times in the match. The Frenchman hit only 11 winners and looked inhibited throughout. Federer, who has won a record six year-end championships, was not having a great day either -- he had 30 unforced errors -- but prevailed on important points as Gasquet converted only one of his six break chances. Federer needed five match points to earn his 43rd Finals win. "It is a big win for me and hopefully I can keep it up in the next match against Juan Martin del Potro," said Federer, chasing only his second title of the year. "Im not coming back from a serious injury, but Im coming back from a lot of sort of ups and downs, resetting things, trying out things, making sure I get my confidence back, my movement and so forth." Federer and Gasquet lost their opening round-robin matches in Group B, against defending champion Novak Djokovic and del Potro, respectively. Djokovic played del Potro late Thursday. Only once in his previous 11 Finals appearances has Federer failed to advance to the last four. A win against del Potro on Saturday will guarantee him a spot in the semis, while Gasquet became the second player to be eliminated, following David Ferrer. It was Federers 11th win in 13 matches against Gasquet, who started by winning his first service game at love before fading. The Finals are Federers last chance to win a big tournament this season. He has won only one title in the past 14 months and has only three victories against top-10 opponents in 2013, including one against del Potro in Paris last week. "Im glad I got one back in Paris because I knew we could be again in the same group, we could be playing each other," Federer said. "I think that win for me in Paris psychologically was very important. I could beat top-10 guys, I beat Richard, I beat Juan Martin last week. I truly believe my confidence is higher, and thats what I need to beat the best, and Juan Martin is part of that group honestly." Fake Adidas NHL Jerseys . Next week, hell try to add to the list. A Stanley Cup champion as a rookie, Seguin followed that up by becoming the youngest player to lead the Boston Bruins in scoring. Authentic NHL Jerseys Cheap . This week they discuss Russias mens hockey team, the ineptitude of the IOC handling the Nicklas Backstrom situation, John Tortorellas many apologies, and Canadas strong showing in curling. http://www.cheapnhlcustomjerseys.com/ . The Wizards gave up two seldom-used players — forward Jan Vesely and point guard Eric Maynor. Vesely goes to the Nuggets, while Maynor gets shipped to the 76ers. Philadelphia receives two second-round draft picks, one from the Wizards in 2015 and one from the Nuggets in 2016. Stitched NHL Jerseys . He made the comment at a media availability Saturday prior to Game 2 of the Boston-Montreal playoff series when a Quebec reporter said there is sentiment in Quebec that the NHL looks more favourably on Seattle than Quebec City when it comes to future expansion. Wholesale NHL Jerseys Authentic . The premature end left 26 players still to finish the round in the Asian Tour event. Siddikur, who shot a bogey-free first round to share the lead with five others, eagled the par-5 first hole before bogeying twice and rebounding with six birdies.4) Speaking of which, if you invested time in the Cleveland Browns-Washington game, it is time to vote on the most interesting thing you saw. Was it Johnny Manziel "flipping off" the Washington bench, or the five holding penalties called against the Browns defence….in the first quarter?5) You will notice that I didnt mention the name of the Washington team. CBS analyst Phil Simms says he might do the same, while his play-by-play partner Jim Nantz feels it is not his place to "take a stance" on the controversy that will not go away. Whos right? I will only say that Nantz is, indeed, "taking a stance" by using the "R" name--hes saying he has no problem with it.6) Milos Raonics steady rise in the world tennis rankings is worthy of praise, but wheres the breakthrough victory that will signal the dawn of true greatness? The two views of Raonic are that it is inevitable, and that it will never come.7) It is time to tell MLB commissioner Rob Manfred how to save time and make games shorter. Are you with me in admitting that the appeal of the "sport without a clock" has waned?8) So lets begin with the toughest question--Should baseball actually use a clock to make the pitcher deliver the ball to home plate within 12 seconds of receiving it in his glove? The answer here is "yes", because the "discretion of the umpire" is a phrase that doesnt serve baseball well in any application.9) For instance, umpires can be encouraged to call more strikes, which usually means theyre supposed to call "high strikes", but they dont. Isnt it time for strict adherence to one strike zone, never mind the idea that umpires have their own strike zones? And, that strike zone, should you need a reminder, is between the top of the knees and the mid-point between the batters pants and the top of his shoulders, as he is about to swing.10) Batters arent supposed to step out of the batters box with both feet. So why are they allowed to do that for just about any reason, or for no reason? Stop them with called strikes.11) Mound conferences. The manager or pitching coach is allowed one trip, after which the pitcher must be changed. Whats wrong with applying the same restriction to catchers and infielders?12) Intentional walks. Why not save the time it takes to deliver four wide pitches and just wave the batter to first base?13) Video review. Baseball has lost its way with the introduction of challenges to umpires calls. Their number must be limited, and so too, the length of time they consume. Did it not occur to MLB that the only valid criticism of this innovation would be if the umps wore the headsets for more than, say, 90 seconds?14) And now it is time to offend the purists (I used to be one myself), or have I done that allready? If the reason for this overhaul is to shorten games, there must be something done when an extra-inning game stretches to the ridiculous length of five or six hours.dddddddddddd Draw the line where you think it belongs--Ill pick 12 innings--and for all innings beyond that, softballs international tie-breaker applies. (Each half-inning begins with a runner at second base).15) Kudos to the Montreal Alouettes for battling the Saskatchewan Roughriders to the very end of last Saturdays game, won 16-11 by the defending Grey Cup champs. But is there anyone not named Tom Higgins who would have done what the Montreal coach did after cutting Saskatchewans lead to two points with just over three minutes to play? What Higgins did was to order a one-point convert following the Als lone touchdown, when a successful two-point try would have evened the score. Ah, but what if the two-point play failed? Well, Montreal would have trailed by two, needing a field goal to win, which basically was what Montreal needed if the deficit was a single point. In summary, there was much to gain and little or nothing to lose by trying for two, and Higgins didnt.16) How good are the Calgary Stampeders? Well, if youre not willing to answer by saying "Theyre the best team in the CFL", try this: "Theyre good enough to be 6-1 without the services of the leagues top player in 2013, Jon Cornish". And wont it be good to see Cornish in action again on Sunday in Ottawa? (Ya, okay, perhaps not if youre Ottawa).17) Do you want the latest reason why its so frustrating being a Chicago Cubs fan? In their recently-completed four-game series against the Mets, the Cubs managed to hold the Mets to 16 hits, exactly four per game. And they split the series.18) Heres a stat that baseball needs to adjust--the "hold", which is awarded to a relief pitcher if he takes the mound with his team leading by three runs or less and departs without surrendering the lead. On Sunday, St. Louis closer Trevor Rosenthal walked three batters and was responsible for two of them crossing the plate, but because that still left the Cardinals in front for a one-run victory, Rosenthal, blown save and all, got his first "hold" of the season. What he got that he deserved was "the hook".19) If there must be a hockey question in August, here it is--what is the name of the Carolina Hurricanes head coach? (I had to look it up. Why dont you do the same, because the point of this exercise is lost if his name appears here. Or maybe you know it, which puts you ahead of me, unless you can name the NHLs five rookie general managers. It took me a couple of minutes, but hey, its August).20) Will the Los Angeles Clippers continue to employ cheerleaders, or would owner Steve Ballmer suffice? ' ' '