Round 1 of the Australian Open is over with little surprise, but lots of glory.
Roger Federer began his quest by defeating Italian Andreas Seppi, an opponent he had not surrender a set to over three past meetings, in another straight set victory that was actually much too close for many to stomach. While Federer got the job done and moved beautifully around the court, he did not display his usual variety of magnificent shots and instead let forehands sail long and backhands dump into the net -- most notably on set point in the second, Federer miscalculated the easiest of forehands to an open court and the ball bounced inches outside the baseline when he could have hit it feet inside the court. However, the strain was also brought by Seppi as the Italian clearly came out with nothing to lose. He had already lost to Federer a number of times and so went for it all in every ball, coming up with miraculous shots that stunned Federer as well as the crowd. He made it difficult for the Swiss champion, but not impossible.
His second round match against the surprise victor Evgeny Korolev who took out former World #1 Carlos Moya was a different story. Roger brought out every one of his tricks and just let the inexperienced Russian self destruct. The endearing and somewhat dangerous game of Korolev is one that does not know the meaning of the word defense. This child took an extravagant whack at anything that came his way, sending many balls metres away from the court. At times he came up with brilliant drop shots and volleys (which admittedly seem to catch Federer napping a bit), but those were few and far between and certainly not enough to challenge an on-point Federer who picked up any playable ball with ease. During Korolev's second service game in the third set, Roger hit a shot he had invented at last year's US Open: a scissor-kicking, leaping swing to a high ball from behind the baseline which carved the ball back into the court while spinning away from the opponent -- and sending the crowd into a frenzy. With that shot, we knew the master had shown up in Melbourne.
Nadal, conversely, had no trouble dismantling his first round opponent in just over 1.5 hours. Rafa arrived, guns blazing -- though a change of the familiar wardrobe left us without a clear view of those biceps we've come to know so well. Rochus gained only four games during the entire match, leaving the message that Nadal may be ready to win a major on the hard court.
One thing that did seem off though, was the court itself. Everybody - Roger, Rafa, Roddick, Nole, Muller, Gonzo, Hewitt etc - seemed rushed. It looked as if nobody had a moment to plan out and properly time his shots. Perhaps it was just the first round jitters as Federer did seem to somewhat clear this up during his second round match. Perhaps the court really is playing faster than people believe. Regardless, these men need to figure it out sooner than later if they plan to be around next week.
Roger Federer began his quest by defeating Italian Andreas Seppi, an opponent he had not surrender a set to over three past meetings, in another straight set victory that was actually much too close for many to stomach. While Federer got the job done and moved beautifully around the court, he did not display his usual variety of magnificent shots and instead let forehands sail long and backhands dump into the net -- most notably on set point in the second, Federer miscalculated the easiest of forehands to an open court and the ball bounced inches outside the baseline when he could have hit it feet inside the court. However, the strain was also brought by Seppi as the Italian clearly came out with nothing to lose. He had already lost to Federer a number of times and so went for it all in every ball, coming up with miraculous shots that stunned Federer as well as the crowd. He made it difficult for the Swiss champion, but not impossible.
His second round match against the surprise victor Evgeny Korolev who took out former World #1 Carlos Moya was a different story. Roger brought out every one of his tricks and just let the inexperienced Russian self destruct. The endearing and somewhat dangerous game of Korolev is one that does not know the meaning of the word defense. This child took an extravagant whack at anything that came his way, sending many balls metres away from the court. At times he came up with brilliant drop shots and volleys (which admittedly seem to catch Federer napping a bit), but those were few and far between and certainly not enough to challenge an on-point Federer who picked up any playable ball with ease. During Korolev's second service game in the third set, Roger hit a shot he had invented at last year's US Open: a scissor-kicking, leaping swing to a high ball from behind the baseline which carved the ball back into the court while spinning away from the opponent -- and sending the crowd into a frenzy. With that shot, we knew the master had shown up in Melbourne.
Nadal, conversely, had no trouble dismantling his first round opponent in just over 1.5 hours. Rafa arrived, guns blazing -- though a change of the familiar wardrobe left us without a clear view of those biceps we've come to know so well. Rochus gained only four games during the entire match, leaving the message that Nadal may be ready to win a major on the hard court.
One thing that did seem off though, was the court itself. Everybody - Roger, Rafa, Roddick, Nole, Muller, Gonzo, Hewitt etc - seemed rushed. It looked as if nobody had a moment to plan out and properly time his shots. Perhaps it was just the first round jitters as Federer did seem to somewhat clear this up during his second round match. Perhaps the court really is playing faster than people believe. Regardless, these men need to figure it out sooner than later if they plan to be around next week.
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