2010 Swiss Indoors Basel; Highlights from Monday
The Swiss tennis maestro, Roger Federer needed just fifty one minutes in the opening round clash of his hometown competition, the Swiss Indoors Basel, versus Alexandr Dolgopolov when his foe withdrew at 6-4, 5-2.
The World number two, who is playing in his first tournament since capturing the If Stockholm Open two weeks ago, broke Alexandr to take a lead of 4-3 in the opening set. He further strengthened it in the following set before the world number 48 from Ukraine injured his ankle while chasing down a return. The number one seed missed only four points total on serve.
"I was able to mix it up well and come out and really play a great first round for a competition where I face a lot of pressure, with all the history I have had here. I am really glad with the way I played, moved, felt out there. It is great to be back on centre court here in Basel,” reflected the 29-year-old Federer after the match on Monday.
The professional tennis player from Switzerland, who made his debut on the ATP World Tour back in 1998, is attempting to reclaim the ATP World Tour 500 crown after falling to Novak Djokovic in the title battle back in 2009. He has so far won a total of sixteen Grand Slam titles on the ATP World Tour and is widely regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all times.
The right-hander, who achieved the number one ranking on the very first occasion back in 2004, during the month of February, has a 34-7 championship record and won consecutive trophies here from 2006 to 2008.
When asked about his hometown tournament, the Fed Express declared, "To me it is always one of the nicest parts of the season. Off course in terms of significance we have got the majors and everything everyone talks about, however in terms of emotion this is undoubtedly high up there, if not at the top. I love this championship more than any other almost, and it is wonderful to me."
Meanwhile, the 25-year-old John Isner from the United States of America, who is seeded number eight to win the title in Basel, earned his spot in the round two at 2010 Swiss Indoors Basel Men’s singles competition as he brushed aside his French opponent, Michael Llodra in three sets on Monday. The final match score was 4-6, 7-5, 6-3.
The Florida resident registered his name as the fifth different contender to smash at least 1,000 aces in a year when he blasted twelve aces against Gael Monfils last week in the quarter final round of Montpellier, joining Pete Sampras, Goran Ivanisevic, Andy Roddick and Ivo Karlovic.
Elsewhere, a Dutch qualifier Robin Haase also posted his eighth tour-level victory of the year on Monday as he swept aside his Swiss foe, Stephane Bohli in two sets. The final score line was 6-4, 6-3.
World number 66, Robin, who also underwent through two knee surgeries back in 2008 and last year, has jumped 607 positions in the South African Airways 2010 ATP list in the last season. The 23 year old is playing at the ATP World Tour 500 hard court tennis championship in Basel on the very first occasion in his career and will next take on either Michael Llodra or John Isner.
In the doubles action, Lukas Dlouhy and Radek Stepanek also breezed into the quarter final round with a three setter win over Paul Hanley and Simon Aspelin on Monday. The final match score was 6-4, 2-6, 10-6.
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