Federer tipped to retain Australian crown

Federer already has two titles under his belt this year Keystone

World number one Roger Federer started the defence of his Australian Open title on Monday as the overwhelming favourite.

The Swiss tennis star hit the ground running with a straight-sets win (6-1, 6-1, 6-2) over his first-round opponent, France’s Fabrice Santoro.

Federer raced through the first set in 17 minutes, winning the first 12 points on the trot.

“I was quite nervous before today’s match, but I started fantastically,” said Federer.

“That set the tone for the rest and I never really gave him a chance to get back into the match.”

Santoro, who was making his 13th appearance at the Australian Open, admitted he had simply been outclassed by the title-holder.

“I have played quite a few champions over the past 15 years and I don’t think I have ever seen anyone play at that level. He’s unplayable,” said the Frenchman.

Defending champion

On February 1 last year Federer beat Russia’s Marat Safin in straight sets in the final, pocketing the second grand-slam title of his career.

Shortly afterwards, the Basel-born player went on to become world number one.

Twelve months later, Federer continues to dominate the sport. He won 11 tournaments in 2004, including three grand-slam crowns (Australia, Wimbledon and the US Open).

The gulf between Federer and even his closest rivals was there for all to see at the end-of-season Masters Cup in Houston, when he made light work of a field that counted the top eight players in the world.

Unbeaten in 2005

Those praying that the 23-year-old might opt to rest on his laurels will have been dismayed at the way he has started the 2005 season.

The Swiss swept to his 23rd title at the Qatar Open earlier this month, and he made it two out of two last weekend with a straight-sets victory over America’s Andy Roddick in the final of the Kooyong Classic.

“My preparations are going perfectly,” said Federer.

On top of that, he has now engaged the services of a part-time coach – Australia’s Tony Roche – after doing without one for the whole of 2004.

The draw in Melbourne has been kind to Federer, giving him a relatively easy path through to the semi-finals.

He is scheduled to meet either American Jan-Michael Gambill or Japanese qualifier Takao Suzuki in the second round.

Schnyder

The absence of defending champion Justine Henin-Hardenne in the women’s draw, coupled with the withdrawals through injury of Kim Clijsters and Jennifer Capriati, has opened up the tournament.

Switzerland’s in-form Patty Schnyder, who was a semi-finalist at the 2002 Australian Open, will be hoping to capitalise on their absences.

On Tuesday she eased through her first-round match against Juliana Fedak of Ukraine, winning 6-1, 6-1.

Schnyder, who like Federer hails from Basel, won the Gold Coast women’s hardcourt final in Australia earlier this month – her first title for two years.

At the Medibank International in Sydney last week, the world number 14 also performed well, before losing in the quarter-finals to Russia’s Elena Dementieva.

Emmanuelle Gagliardi, Switzerland’s other representative in the women’s tournament, lost to France’s Nathalie Dechy 6-4, 6-3 in the first round.

swissinfo, Mathias Froidevaux

In brief

The Australian Open, which this year celebrates its 100th anniversary, is the first grand-slam tournament of the year.

Roger Federer, who beat Marat Safin in last year’s final, is defending the men’s title. Belgium’s Justine Henin-Hardenne, who won the women’s crown in 2004, is injured.

Federer won two other grand-slam titles last year: Wimbledon and the US Open.