Roger Federer storms into Australian Open second round
Roger Federer started the Australian open in some style, as he dominated the proceedings in the opening match to defeat Slovakia’s Lukas Lacko 6-1, 6-1, 6-3.
The Swiss world number two is in search of a 17th career Grand Slam, and after an easy work out of one hour and 24 minutes, he will now pit his wits against Gilles Simon or Yen-Hsun Lu in the second round.
Also winning on the opening day with a classy display was Andy Roddick who defeated Jan Hajek, but there were some shock defeats as well on day one for Sam Querry and Nikolay Davydenko.
Novak Djokovic will also be playing his opening game later today, while Rafael Nadal begins his campaign tomorrow. Federer is hoping to regain the number one spot in the world rankings, which he lost to Nadal last season, and
by the looks of things he is well on his way to achieving that feat.
The defending Champion claimed his first point of the Championship with a sublime back-hand drop volley, and from then on there was no stopping the Swiss ace, as winners flowed from his racket.
Federer broke Lacko’s serve in the fourth game of the match, and moved into a 5-1 lead, before serving out the set in the next game. Federer’s dominance continued in the second set as he gave his Slovakian opponent no time to
settle in the match.
The 97th ranked player was broken in the opening game of the second set, and then again in the third to hand the initiative to the defending Champion. Lacko tried to get back in the game but Federer was in ominous
form as he continued to slam winner after a winner. Lacko was broken again in the fifth and the seventh games to surrender a two-set to love lead.
The third set was more of a contest as Lacko pushed Federer a bit, but the Swiss was not to be denied an easy win, as he went on to win the set 6-3.
"(Rank) one and two are both very good - one is better than two but they still put me on Rod Laver Arena, so I'm not complaining at all. I'm really enjoying myself, playing extremely well at the moment and the last six months
have been fantastic. I'm very happy how things are going and I will see how far I can go in the tournament," said the all-time leading Grand-Slam winner, who ended 2010 on a high after winning the ATP World Tour finals.
After winning the French, U.S. Open and Wimbledon in 2010, world number one Rafael Nadal is looking to become the first man since Rod Laver to win four Grand Slams in a row. The Spaniard will open his campaign tomorrow
with a game against Brazilian Marcos Daniel.
In the other matches of the day, Andy Roddick obliterated Jan Hajek 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 to set up a second round clash against Russia's Igor Kunitsyn.
Roddick has failed to progress past the last four stage of this competition, despite appearing in the semi-finals four times. This is the only Grand Slam along with the French Open where Roddick has never played the championship
match.
Gael Monfils of France also registered a win on the opening day, as he came from two sets down to beat Thiemo De Bakker 6-7 (5-7), 2-6, 7-5, 6-2, 6-1 in a gruesome five-set encounter.
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