ATP World Tour Finals 2014: Stan Wawrinka thrashes Tomas Berdych in under an hour at the O2

The Swiss won 6-1 6-1 in his opening game

Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland serves during his match against Tomas Berdych (GETTY IMAGES)

Stan Wawrinka put a poor run of form behind him in spectacular fashion as he opened his ATP World Tour Finals account by thrashing Tomas Berdych.

Wawrinka had won only one match since the US Open as a season that began with his stunning Australian Open triumph threatened to end with a whimper.

But he raced out of the blocks at London's O2 Arena and an off-key Berdych had no answer, with third seed Wawrinka winning 6-1 6-1 in only 58 minutes.

It was the most one-sided match since the tournament moved to London in 2009.

The result maintains Berdych's unwanted record of never having won his opening match at the tournament, and he failed to hit a single winner off the ground.

He could not have made a worse start, winning just five points in the first five games, none of which he won, leaving him staring at his racquet in bewilderment.

He did at least avoid a love set, saving a set point with an ace, but Wawrinka wrapped it up in 25 minutes, matching his countryman Roger Federer's performance against Milos Raonic on Sunday.

But, while Federer found life much tougher in the second, Wawrinka continued to put Berdych to the sword.

A backhand onto the line gave him the first break for 2-1 and, after only 55 minutes, Berdych found himself serving to stay in the match, a challenge that proved beyond him.

One consolation for the Czech is he has won his second round-robin match on each previous visit to the O2, but only once has that been good enough to see him through to the last four.

Wawrinka, meanwhile, is already in a great position to emulate his run last year, when he reached the semi-finals on his debut.

PA