AUSTRALIAN OPEN Venue: Melbourne Park Date: 19 January-1 February Coverage: BBC Red Button, BBC One & Two (including all Andy Murray matches), Radio 5 Live sports extra, BBC Sport website (Red Button coverage streamed on website throughout fortnight)
 Federer will be bidding to equal Pete Sampras's Grand Slam titles record |
Roger Federer began his final warm-up for the Australian Open by easing past Carlos Moya at the Kooyong Classic. The world number two took just 57 minutes to beat the Spaniard 6-2 6-3 in the eight-strong invitational event. Federer broke Moya at 4-3 in the second set and saw out the match on his first match point in the next game. "I was a little rusty in the beginning, missed quite a few forehands, but I thought it was a good match overall," said the Swiss. "There were a few gusts of wind, which makes it not easy to play, but I felt like I was playing OK."  | 606: DEBATE |
Federer, beaten by Britain's Andy Murray in Abu Dhabi and Doha, will attempt to equal Pete Sampras's record of 14 Grand Slam singles titles when the Australian Open starts at Melbourne Park on Monday. Federer said he was unconcerned that Murray and world number one Rafael Nadal were not taking part in the warm-up tournament. "I'd rather not play them. You might not see the real guys playing each other, they might be trying to hide something away," he said. "That's why Abu Dhabi was tough for me. It was an unusual first match of the season for me and not very comfortable." His next opponent at Kooyong will be Fernando Verdasco of Spain who overcame Croatia's Marin Cilic 6-2 7-5. Federer's compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka had little trouble beating Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus 6-2 6-2. In the other match Chile's Fernando Gonzalez defeated Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia 6-4 6-3.
|
Bookmark with:
What are these?