Swiss men’s world No. 2 Roger Federer had a tussle before dispatching Taiwan’s Lu Yen-hsun at the Australian Open yesterday as he searches for an elusive 18th Grand Slam title.
Federer, who is gunning for his fifth crown at Melbourne Park, won 6-4, 6-2, 7-5 in 1 hour, 53 minutes in the Rod Laver Arena and is scheduled to play Italian Simone Bolelli in the second round.
The 33-year-old, whose last major success was at Wimbledon in 2012, reeled off the opening two sets in just over one hour, but found more resistance from the 47th-ranked Lu in the third set.
Photo: EPA
The breakthrough came in the 11th game when Federer held three break points on Lu’s service and took the game when the Taiwanese overhit a forehand.
Federer served it out for the match, protecting his record of never losing a first-round match in 16 appearances in Melbourne.
“I thought I was playing very well through the first couple of sets. I was serving very well. I was holding my service games very comfortably,” Federer said.
Photo: AFP
“Until probably 5-2 in the second set, which was the first time he had any play on my service game. I was returning and able to dominate the plays from the back. I think he started to serve better in the third. I think conditions slowed down a bit because of the coolness and the night coming in, I felt it was hard to generate stuff,” he added.
“Instead of sort of just steamrolling through him he really made it tough for me, he was playing some really good tennis,” Federer said.
Big guns Rafael Nadal and Maria Sharapova successfully blasted their way into the Australian Open second round, but the Grand Slam dream of Ana Ivanovic was shattered.
Third seed Nadal and sixth seed Andy Murray enjoyed straight sets wins, with rising stars Simona Halep, Eugenie Bouchard and Grigor Dimitrov also progressing on a cool Melbourne day.
Women’s world No. 2 Sharapova, looking for her first Australian title since 2008, swept aside Croat Petra Martic 6-4, 6-1.
“I made a few too many unforced errors, but overall I’m glad I got through,” Sharapova said, adding that she was reaping the benefits of a strong lead up to the tournament when she won the Brisbane International.
It was a different story for fifth seed Ivanovic, a former world No. 1, who came to Melbourne full of confidence after a stellar season last year that saw her climb the rankings.
She started well against unheralded world No. 142 Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic, winning the first set, but then went to pieces, eventually crashing 1-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Ninth seeded German Angelique Kerber also failed to live up to the hype, eliminated in three sets by Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu.
Nadal showed few signs of the injuries that disrupted his season last year in dispatching Russian Mikhail Youzhny 6-3, 6-2, 6-2, conceding just one break point on his serve.
Top seeds Serena Williams and Novak Djokovic, and defending men’s champion Stan Wawrinka, are in action today.
Women’s champion Li Na of China has retired and is not taking part, although she is a guest of honor and announced to the Rod Laver crowd that she was expecting her first child.
Murray was given a testing workout by Indian Yuki Bhambri, a former Junior world No. 1, before emerging a 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7/3) winner.
The Scot, who is bidding to become the first player to win the Australian Open after losing three finals at Melbourne Park, said he was pleased with the state of his tennis under coach Amelie Mauresmo.
Women’s world No. 3 Halep opened the proceedings with the wind swirling around the Rod Laver Arena, carving out a 6-3, 6-2 defeat of Italy’s Karin Knapp.
The Romanian, a quarter-finalist at Melbourne Park last year, is looking to build on a breakthrough season last year when she reached the French Open final and the semi-finals at Wimbledon.
Seventh seed Bouchard, a semi-finalist last year, posted a solid 6-2, 6-4 win over Germany’s Anna-Lena Friedsam while 10th seed Dimitrov progressed with an easy 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 victory over German Dustin Brown.
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