Federer wins first round in battle of generations

Current number one Federer came back from 4-2 down against the 36-year-old Samoras, who retired five years ago with the all-time record of 14 Grand Slam titles.

 Swiss Federer is fast closing the gap with a dozen majors.

 The pair will play on Thursday in Kuala Lumpur and Saturday on the island of Macao.

 Sampras, who hit with Federer last March in Los Angeles where the exhibition idea was presumably launched, said he made the match with the current best "competitive, that was my goal."

   "Obviously Roger is the best player in the world and I retired five years ago."

   Sampras said that he is not planning a return to the game despite this week's schedule. Federer called Sampras "one of my idols growing up, it's great to play him.

 The Swiss added: "I'm number one and everyone expects me to win, but it wasn't easy for either of us."

   The only time the two met on the ATP was the Wimbledon fourth round in 2001, which the young Federer won in five sets to announce his presence on the world stage.

 Meanwhile in Kuala Lumpur, world number two Rafael Nadal and Frenchman Richard Gasquet were meeting in another exho two days before Federer and Sampras clash in the Malaysian capital.

 "Sure, it's an exhibition match, but we've big motivation to play well and try to win," said Nadal, who beat Gasquet last week in the Masters Cup round-robin stage.

 "It's the last match of season, and you always want to finish it with good feelings."