Five-time champion Roger Federer put his growing army of doubters firmly in their place by storming into the Wimbledon second round on Monday.
Top seed Federer took just 79 minutes to brush off injury-plagued Slovakian and close friend Dominik Hrbaty 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 to reach the second round, where he will face tricky Swede Robin Soderling.
Third seed Novak Djokovic, who relieved Federer of his Australian Open title in January and is scheduled to meet the world No. 1 in what could be a blockbuster semi-final, needed four sets to see off Germany’s Michael Berrer.
PHOTO: EPA
Djokovic won 7-5, 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 and will face either Russia’s Marat Safin, a former world No. 1, or Fabio Fognini of Italy in the next round.
Australia’s Lleyton Hewitt, the last man to win the title before Federer went on his run of five-in-a-row, was taken to five sets by Dutchman Robin Haase.
The 27-year-old Australian won 6-7 (4/7), 6-3, 6-3, 6-7 (1/7), 6-2 and will face Albert Montanes of Spain.
PHOTO: AP
Argentine seventh seed David Nalbandian, who was the runner-up to Hewitt six years ago, became the biggest casualty of the day when he slumped to a 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 defeat to Canada’s Frank Dancevic. Federer, who strolled onto Centre Court sporting a 1920s-style cardigan, devastatingly illustrated that reports of his demise were premature with his confident win under bright blue skies.
It was also a 60th consecutive grasscourt victory for Federer, whose last Grand Slam appearance ended in utter humiliation at the hands of Rafael Nadal in the French Open final.
Federer, bidding to win a record sixth successive Wimbledon title and unbeaten on grass for six years, admitted it was a relief to be back at the familiar surroundings of the All England Club.
PHOTO: AP
“Every time you walk out the grass is perfect. The roof is back on and that looks more natural and the sun was out,” said the Swiss, who insisted he has not paid any attention to those people writing him off as a spent force.
“I haven’t read or listened to any of it. I was concentrating on winning in Halle [his fifth grasscourt title in the German city]. I played really well and it was great fun against one of my good friends on the tour,” said Federer, who didn’t face a break point in the match.
Djokovic, a semi-finalist last year, was happy to get through his opener.
“First matches can be tricky. I was trying to get used to the conditions. I played better towards the end of it but in general there were some bad aspects in the second set,” the Serbian said.
Hewitt, the 20th seed, said he was still feeling the hip injury which restricted his claycourt campaign to just the French Open.
Hewitt famously lost in the first round here in 2003, but his conqueror that day, Ivo Karlovic, again failed to translate his big serve into success. For the second year in succession, the 18th-seeded Croatian followed his title victory in the Nottingham event with a first round loss here with Germany’s Simon Stadler pulling off a 4-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-3, 7-5 win.
Women’s top seed Ana Ivanovic of Serbia, fresh from her maiden Grand Slam title at the French Open, was in cruise control seeing off Paraguay’s Rosanna de los Rios, the world 103, 6-1, 6-2.
The 20-year-old now faces French veteran Nathalie Dechy for a place in the third round.
Ivanovic, who took the world No. 1 spot with her victory in Paris, said she was thriving on the pressure of being the top player.
“Obviously there are different ways of dealing with pressure. Becoming No. 1, it takes more pressure, but also you have to see pressure for what it is. It’s a reflection of your own ambition,” she said.
Serena Williams, the champion in 2002 and 2003, progressed with a hard-fought 7-5, 6-3 win over Estonian French Open quarter-finalist Kaia Kanepi. The US sixth seed will now face Poland’s Urszula Radwanska for a place in the last 32.
Fourth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, a former US Open champion who has never got beyond the quarter-finals here, struggled to get past French qualifier Mathilde Johansson 6-7 (5/7), 7-5, 6-3.
Other seeds were not so fortunate, with Swiss 12th seed Patty Schnyder, Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia, French duo Virginie Razzano and Alize Cornet as well as Russia’s Maria Kirilenko all making exits.
Taiwan kept their hopes of advancing to next year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Saturday, backed by solid pitching. Taiwan last night played against Nicaragua. As of press time, Nicaragua was leading 6-0. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan on Saturday kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen struck out one and allowed no hits, except for a hit-by-pitch over
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
Team Taiwan are set to face Spain in a win-or-go-home match tonight for the final berth at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), despite losing to Nicaragua 6-0 in the WBC qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Sunday. The home team’s loss on Sunday means Nicaragua finish first in the qualifier round in Taipei with a perfect 3-0 record and advances to next year’s finals. After crushing South Africa 9-1 earlier on Sunday, Spain took second place in the four-team qualifier with a 2-1 record. With a 1-2 record, Taiwan finished third while South Africa placed at the bottom with
Team Taiwan avoided missing the World Baseball Classic (WBC) for the first time by defeating Spain 6-3 in a do-or-die game in Taipei last night. After narrowly escaping a mercy-rule loss to Spain in the WBC Qualifiers opener on Friday last week, the home team — winner of last year's WBSC Premier12 title three months ago — got their revenge against the 2023 European champions at Taipei Dome. "It felt quite different from when we won the Premier12," Taiwan captain Chen Chieh-hsien (陳傑憲) said after the game, recalling the ups and downs the team has experienced over the past few days. Unlike in
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