Diego Schwartzman suffered a similar fate to fellow ATP Finals debutant Andrey Rublev the previous night as the Argentine was brushed aside by five-time champion Novak Djokovic.
Russian Rublev barely laid a glove on 20-time grand slam champion Rafael Nadal during a straight sets loss and Schwartzman looked equally powerless to prevent a sixth loss from as many meetings with the clinical Djokovic on Monday, subsiding 6-3 6-2.
Djokovic – who on Sunday was presented with the ATP’s end-of-year number one award for a record-equalling sixth time – dropped his serve early at the virtually empty O2 Arena.
But after that early setback the Serb was immaculate.
Djokovic broke back immediately and then pounced again when Schartzman served at 3-4, outmanoeuvring his opponent before pummelling away a forehand winner into the corner.
With no fans in the 18,000 arena to rally to the Argentine’s underdog cause, world No.9 Schwartzman never looked capable of turning his opening group match into a contest.
Djokovic secured two breaks in the second set and clinched victory with a minimum of fuss.
“I was very happy the way I played in the second set when I started swinging through the ball,” Djokovic said on court.
“It was close I think until I broke at 4-3. It was tough for Diego, first match in the arena he maybe wasn’t playing his best in the closing moments of the first set.”
The 33-year-old world Djokovic is bidding to win the ATP Finals title for the first time since 2015 and equal Roger Federer’s record of six.
In Monday’s late match, Russia’s Daniil Medvedev swept aside Alexander Zverev 6-3 6-4 to claim his first win at the season-ending event.
Medvedev, who lost all three matches in his tournament debut a year ago, was far too good for 2018 champion Zverev.
Djokovic will face Medvedev on Wednesday while Zverev will play Schwartzman.
In the doubles, Australian John Peers and New Zealander Michael Venus were beaten in their team debut at the season finale.
The trans-Tasman pairing fought hard and saved one match point before they went down 7-6 (7-2) 7-5 to Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos.
