Roger Federer defeats Mikhail Kukushkin to move into second round – Wimbledon Championships 2011
Former world number one and six time champion here, Swiss Roger Federer overcame a slow start against Kazakh Mikhail Kukushkin to move ahead at the 2011 Wimbledon Championships in London on Tuesday, 21st June.
The Swiss maestro, seeded third in the event, took a little over ninety minutes to register a 7-6(2), 6-4, 6-2 win over the lower ranked Kazakh.
Playing in their first match ever, Federer was the favourite to win the match and that too in straight sets. However, kudos to the Kazakh for the resistance he put up in the first set. Matching blow for blow against the King of grass, Kukushkin kept the scoreboard ticking on even terms as he held his entire serves.
A neck-to-neck run in the opener pushed the first set into a tiebreaker. Unleashing his full fury in the tiebreaker at two points each, the Swiss reeled off five straight points with three marvellous aces to clinch the tiebreaker 7-2. Winning near perfect 95 percent on his first serve and 90 percent on his second, Federer hit nineteen winners and struck six aces to go one up in the set score.
Down but not out, Kukushkin again held his ground in the second, albeit only early on. Tied at two games each, Federer broke serve in the fifth game before holding his own in the sixth to lead the set 4-2. Serving for the set at 5-4, the Swiss forced back to back errors on the Kazakh to clinch the tenth game with no point loss.
A 6-4 victory in the second set put the maestro two up in the set score. From here on it was just a matter of how soon it will be over.
Multiple breaks in the third set put Federer in a commanding 5-1 lead over the Kazakh. Again serving for the set at 5-2, the third seed lost no points as he continued to score on the Kazakh’s unforced errors. Clinching a 6-2 win in the third set, Federer sealed his straight sets victory and ensured a second round spot here.
The Swiss moves on ahead to play either Italian qualifier Conor Niland or Frenchman Adrian Mannarino.
Tags: