Federer returns to World Tour Finals

Roger Federer will return to play in London this November after securing his place at the end-of-season Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.



The Swiss star's first-round win over Brian Dabul at the US Open last night means he is now guaranteed his place among the elite eight-man field which will gather at the O2 Arena later this year.



Federer becomes only the second player to qualify, behind world number one Rafael Nadal, who has already won in London this year at Wimbledon.



The 29-year-old will be making his ninth consecutive appearance in the year-end championships. He has won the event four times.



This year's tournament takes place from November 21-28.



Meanwhile, Venus Williams, playing for the first time in two months, beat Roberta Vinci of Italy 6-4, 6-1 last night to reach the US Open's second round.



Earlier, defending champion Kim Clijsters briefly lost her footing on a windy day before recovering in time to win her 15th straight match. The second-seeded Belgian beat Hungary's Greta Arn 6-0, 7-5 in the first round.



Other women’s winners were Melanie Oudin and Francesca Schiavone



In the men’s draw, ninth-seeded Andy Roddick celebrated his 28th birthday by beating Stephane Robert of France 6-3, 6-2, 6-2.



Two-time French Open runner-up Robin Soderling was pushed to five sets by a qualifier ranked 214th in the world. The Number 5-seeded Swede beat Andreas Haider-Maurer of Austria 7-5, 6-3, 6-7, 5-7, 6-4, while Australia’s Lleyton Hewitt lost in the first round to Paul-Henri Mathieu of France 6-3, 6-4, 5-7,

4-6, 6-1.