Easy does it for Federer in opener
Defending champion too strong for 51st-ranked Bedene
Defending champion Roger Federer dazzled under the Australian Open lights to waltz through to the second round with a straight-sets win over Aljaz Bedene yesterday.
The ageless Swiss marvel, rated as the favourite to win his 20th Grand Slam title, thrilled the Rod Laver Arena crowd with a virtuoso performance.
The second seed cruised to a 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 win in 1hr 39 min and will next play German Jan-Lennard Struff.
It improved his Australian Open record to 88-13 in his 19th campaign Down Under.
Federer, who insists he is too old at 36 to be rated the tournament favourite, put away the 51st-ranked Slovenian with a catalogue of his
Men’s singles (first round): Women’s singles (first round):
signature shot-making. “I’m loving it and hopefully I can play for a little longer,” he said post-match.
Federer is coming off an extraordinary 2017, when he won a fifth Australian Open title and a record eighth at Wimbledon, after returning from an injury layoff.
He said the margin the elite players had over others helped them to make successful comebacks from injuries, pointing to himself last year, and Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka at this year’s Open.
“I think because we maybe have a margin against a lot of the players normally, when we do come back, we can maybe find that level,” Federer said.
“Even though we’re not feeling good, we can still find a way and eventually play good again, whereas others would struggle early on and it becomes more difficult.
Adrian Mannarino (FRA x26) bt Matteo Berrettini (ITA) 6-4, 6-4, 6-4; Fernando Verdasco (ESP) bt Roberto Bautista (ESP x20) 6-1, 7-5, 7-5; Sam Querrey (USA x13) bt Feliciano Lopez (ESP) 6-3, 6-4, 6-2; Lukas Lacko (SVK) bt Milos Raonic (CAN x22) 6-7 (5/7), 7-5, 6-4, 7-6 (7/5); Stan Wawrinka (SUI x9) bt Ricardas Berankis (LTU) 6-3, 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (7/2); Albert Ramos (ESP x21) bt Jared Donaldson (USA) 6-2, 6-3, 6-4; Alexander Zverev (GER x4) bt Thomas Fabbiano (ITA) 6-1, 7-6 (7/5), 7-5; David Goffin (BEL x7) bt Matthias Bachinger (GER) 6-7 (3/7), 6-3, 6-2, 6-4; Novak Djokovic (SRB x14) bt Donald Young (USA) 6-1, 6-2, 6-4; Fabio Fognini (ITA x25) bt Horacio Zeballos (ARG) 6-4, 6-4, 7-5; Gael Monfils (FRA) bt Jaume Munar (ESP) 6-3, 7-6 (7/5), 6-4; Chung Hyeon (KOR) bt Mischa Zverev (GER x32) 6-2, 4-1 ret; Richard Gasquet (FRA x29) bt Blaz Kavcic (SLO) 6-1, 6-4, 7-5; Roger Federer (SUI x2) bt Aljaz Bedene (GBR) 6-3, 6-4, 6-3; Tomas Berdych (CZE x19) bt Alex de Minaur (AUS) 6-3, 3-6, 6-0, 6-1; Dominic Thiem (AUT x5) bt Guido Pella (ARG) 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.
Johanna Konta (GBR x9) bt Madison Brengle (USA) 6-3, 6-1; Lucie Safarova (CZE x29) bt Ajla Tomljanovic (CRO) 7-5, 6-3; Karolina Pliskova (CZE x6) bt Veronica Cepede (PAR) 6-3, 6-4; Angelique Kerber (GER x21) bt Anna-Lena Friedsam (GER) 6-0, 6-4; Caroline Garcia (FRA x8) bt Carina Witthoeft (GER) 7-5, 6-3; Elena Vesnina (RUS x16) bt Ons Jabeur (TUN) 6-3, 6-4; Maria Sharapova (RUS) bt Tatjana Malek (GER) 6-1, 6-4; Eugenie Bouchard (CAN) bt Oceane Dodin (FRA) 6-3, 7-6 (7/5); Madison Keys (USA x17) bt Qiang Wang (CHN) 6-1, 7-5; Simona Halep (ROM x1) bt Destanee Aiava (AUS) 7-6 (7/5), 6-1; Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (CRO x28) bt Shelby Rogers (USA) 7-6 (8/6), 5-7, 6-2; Anastasija Sevastova (LAT x14) bt Varvara Lepchenko (USA) 3-6, 6-3, 6-2; Andrea Petkovic (GER) bt Petra Kvitova (CZE x27) 6-3, 4-6, 10-8; Ana Bogdan (ROM) bt Kristina Mladenovic (FRA x11) 6-3, 6-2; Garbine Muguruza (ESP x3) bt Jessika Ponchet (FRA) 6-4, 6-3; Agnieszka Radwanska (POL x26) bt Kristyna Pliskova (CZE) 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.