Federer has now won his last 12 matches on the bounce and has current world No 1 Novak Djokovic in his sights. The Swiss is fewer than 500 points behind the Serbian and the champion of next week’s BNP Paribas Masters will claim 1,000 points – and a big step towards deciding which player will end the year at the top.

Federer was barely tested by his 23-year-old opponent in the St Jakobshalle, and he broke Goffin twice in each set to win at a canter.