No sweat for focused Federer in crushing familiar foe
Roger Federer crushed a familiar opponent for the 16th successive time as he made an encouraging return to the ATP World Tour after his Australian Open debacle.
The Grand Slam record holder’s lively 6-3, 6-1 win over Mikhail Youzhny, a regular practice partner, in the first round of the Dubai Open helped him begin to rebuild after a dispiriting third-round loss in Melbourne.
The Swiss legend served forcefully, striking the ball with surprisingly good rhythm in a stiff breeze, and shortening the rallies by coming to the net successfully on plenty of occasions.
“He’s (Youzhny) beaten me a lot in practice,” Federer said when asked how he managed to be so ruthless against someone he had been playing since the turn of the century and to whom he had never lost.
“For some reason he has not done so in a match. You can’t feel sorry. You have to make your best effort.”
Youzhny, who has twice reached the final here, is still a fluent ground-stroker but only remained a contender in this match for the first seven games against a Federer intent on not playing too carefully in tricky conditions — a mistake he believes he made in Australia.
Youzhny then saved three break points before being pressured into driving too long on the fourth.
After that Federer consolidated the break with a sharp service game before breaking again to close the first set. The second was so quick the match was over inside of a hour.
“In the best of three (sets) on a quick court, the score can run away from you. A bad five minutes can cost you the match, so I’m pleased with the way I started,” Federer said.
Later Federer learned he will not have a chance of avenging last month’s Australian Open loss to Andreas Seppi in the third round.
The Italian saved two second set match points and led 4-2 in the final set, but was still beaten by talented but inconsistent Frenchman Richard Gasquet, 6-4, 6-7 (1), 6-4.
Gasquet, who won the Montpellier title on indoor courts two weeks ago, survived on the faster outdoor court here partly because he regained control of his emotions after a second set disappointment that caused him to lash the ball furiously into the crowd.
“I had those two match points and then he played better than me,” said Gasquet.