ROGER FEDERER FLIES INTO AUSTRALIAN OPEN SECOND ROUND, AND RAFA NADAL BEGINS ON TUESDAY BY RICKY DIMON

Written by: Staff on 18th January 2016

ROGER FEDERER FLIES INTO AUSTRALIAN OPEN SECOND ROUND, AND RAFA NADAL BEGINS ON TUESDAY BY RICKY DIMON

epa05108773 Roger Federer of Switzerland plays a forehand to Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia during their match on day one of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 18 January 2016. EPA/LUKAS COCH AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT |

Roger Federer roared through his first-round match at the Australian Open on Monday night, disposing of Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-2, 6-1, 6-2 in a lightning-quick one hour and 12 minutes. Federer won 92 percent of his first-serve points en route to setting up an intriguing showdown against Alexandr Dolgopolov on Wednesday.

The four-time Australian Open champion was especially dominant in the return game. Basilashvili, a 23-year-old Georgian, won a mere 29 percent of the points in which he had to toss in a second serve. Federer’s aggressive returning allowed him to break the underdog a whopping eight times.

“That was a good match,” Federer assured. “I’m really pleased how I was able to play. Definitely gives me a bit of a lift in confidence, you know, because this year I haven’t been able to play properly yet. I mean, I had some decent matches in Brisbane, but it was all under, you know, sort of a cloud knowing that I wasn’t 100 percent.

“But this was a match where I was able to focus, you know, on my game, on tactics, all that stuff. So it was nice to play that way.”

The 34-year-old Swiss is joined in the last 64 by Novak Djokovic, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Marin Cilic, Tomas Berdych, Kei Nishikori, Dominic Thiem, and Nick Kyrgios to name just a handful. Ivo Karlovic and Benoit Paire were the only men’s seeds to go down on Day 1. Karlovic retired against Federico Delbonis and Paire got taken out in three consecutive tiebreakers by American Noah Rubin, who played one season of college tennis at Wake Forest.

Roger Federer of Switzerland plays a forehand to Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia during their match on day one of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 18 January 2016. EPA/LUKAS COCH

Only three five-setters occurred on Day 1 Down Under. Renzo Olivo ousted Jiri Vesely, Damir Dzumhur got the best of Kyle Edmund, and Auckland champion Roberto Bautista Agut held off Martin Klizan.

Among those hoping to advance on Tuesday is Rafael Nadal, who will be involved in an all-Spanish affair with familiar foe Fernando Verdasco.

They will be facing each other for the 17th time in their careers, with Nadal comfortably ahead in the head-to-head series 14-2. He has won six of their seven previous hard-court encounters. The two veterans most recently clashed last summer on the clay courts of Hamburg, where Nadal prevailed 3-6, 6-1, 6-1. Their most memorable contest, of course, came at the 2009 Australian Open. Nadal survived a five-set classic that lasted more than five hours before going on to beat Federer–also in five–two days later for the title.

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand.

Topics: 10sballs.com, Alexandr Dolgopolov, Atp World Tour, Australian Open, Dominic Thiem, Ivo Karlovic, Jo Wilfried Tsonga, Kei Nishikori, Marin Cilic, Melbourne tennis, Nick Kyrgios, Nikoloz Basilashvili, Novak Djokovic, Rafa Nadal, Ricky Dimon, Roger Federer, Sports, Tennis News, Tomas Berdych

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Dimonator says:

January 18, 2016 at 8:19 am

RT @10sBalls_com: #Federer Flies Into #AustralianOpen Second Round, And #Nadal Begins On Tuesday By @Dimonator
https://t.co/pDCX1d59im http…
DontYouBoy says:

January 18, 2016 at 8:21 am

RT @10sBalls_com: #Federer Flies Into #AustralianOpen Second Round, And #Nadal Begins On Tuesday By @Dimonator
https://t.co/pDCX1d59im http…