King Federer Reigns Supreme

What separates great players and good players is the ability to seize the opportunities and come back after being down and out. Andy Murray had plenty of chances to force a fourth set and try and take the game to Roger Federer, in the Championship match at the Australian Open. It was in the tie-breaker of the marathon third set, that opportunities went begging for Murray. He could have taken the game to the Great man, but the master finally prevailed to take his Grand Slam title No. 16 in straight sets.

It was billed to be a really close contest. But, there were not too many signs of it for the first two sets after the initial burst. Federer struggled to hold the first game, but had no trouble in breaking the Scot soon after, as nerves told clearly on the second-time Grand Slam finalist. But, he didn't let the Swiss run away as he broke back immediately to get the crowd going. But, despite unraveling a few scorching shots, Murray was broken in the eight game, and Federer closed out the first set at 6-3. Ask Nadal and he would tell you, that the best chance to beat Federer in a final is to win the first set. Murray didn't do that.

He dumped his chances even more as he surrendered the second set too without much of a fight; or at least the master made it seem so. Federer was in full flow by now as he displayed his full might to the stunned Scot. The one-handed backhand never failed the Swiss today, and his serve was good enough to keep Murray at bay.

Murray was in deep waters by the third set and only now did he wake up. And, what a response that was. He was at his best and forced the elusive break in the sixth game. He soon went up 5-2, and his supporters were on dreamland as they were gearing up for an extended match. But, they didn't know that the Great man had other ideas. Federer fought back with some fantastic serves and got his break back and leveled at 5-5. The set then went into the tie-break and this is when things got crazy. They were neck and neck, going from 3-3 to 6-6, then to 9-9. Both players missing more than a couple of opportunities to take the set. The tipping point came when Federer, at championship point, hit a drop shot, which Murray scrambled as he had done all day, to pick up an lob it up tamely. All Federer had to do was to smash the ball back and he could have cried for the rest of the night. But, shockingly he let it go thinking it would go out, but no. He was kicking himself. It was a shocking decision from the great man, who otherwise got everything right on the day. But, soon Murray hit another of those unforced errors to concede the set and the match, relieving Federer of his agony.

This was Roger's first Major title as Father, his fourth at Melbourne Park. Although he himself might not have any ambition of getting the calendar Grand Slam, his fans will still be rooting for it. They never get tired of watching him win again and again and again....the FedEx rolls on....16 and counting....

The Summit Clash

So, we're into the last day of the Australian Open 2010. Its time for the Championship clash in the men's singles. The master and the apprentice clash in a real mouthwatering encounter at Melbourne Park.

Both players have put up strong performances so far in the tournament, both players not having gone beyond four sets in any of their matches. Federer has had the tougher of the opponents than Murray, but the way Murray dispatched defending champion Rafael Nadal talks a lot about his game in last fortnight. The two-day break that Murray has got before the final will certainly have energised him more. But, Federer will be looking to take the momentum from his brilliant showing in the semi-final against Tsonga, and regain his Australian Open crown after a gap of three years. It will interesting to see how Murray goes. For him to have any chances of winning his maiden major title against the 15-time Grand Slam Champion, he will have to go for the broke right from the off. The first set is the key for the Scot, and he must ensure that he doesn't get Federised like Tsonga. Or else, Federer will steamroll him on way to celebrating his Australian Open crown No. 4. Roger that.

Tsonga gets Federised

Yes its very true. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was left wondering what had struck him. It was the second semi-final of the Australian Open and he was up against the Swiss World No. 1 Roger Federer. But, it ended up looking like a first round outing, as Federer simply demolished the Frenchman. The match lasted less than an hour and a half, and ended at 6-2, 6-3, 6-2. The great man hardly broke a sweat.

Tsonga had got through to here after having got past the No. 3 seed Novak Djokovic in a five-setter. He had his big serve and fast court coverage in his armoury, but even they were of no use today. Instead, he was feeling the heat from the racquet of the Swiss, and the same weapons deserted him, as he conceded five breaks in the match, including five double faults. On the other hand, the Federer serve worked like a well-oiled machine, conceding not even a break opportunity and no double faults. The mastery elegance that one associates with the Federer game was in full show as he unleashed all of his tricks.

There was this overhead lob, taken from behind his head; then the forehand winner on the run taken from the service box and over the net post; then the many drop shots, that were so well disguised, they were a treat to watch; there was this one outrageous drop shot from behind the baseline as well!!!

And from Tsonga, ......was he even playing......yeah he was, he was just hitting the ball back to the master. The poor chap had no chance of even touching the great man, who was playing at another level, a level quite alien to this planet.

Federer who would now be playing his 22nd Grand Slam Final, another record, will be up against Britain's No. 5 seed Andy Murray. Both had met previously in a Grand Slam Final, in US Open '08, where Federer taught Murray a lesson or two with a straight sets victory. Murray has gone places after that, and it will be nowhere near that easy for the Swiss master. A record 16th Grand Slam title beckons the great man, whereas Murray would be looking to break the duck. The World No. 1 would also be looking to start another journey towards that elusive Grand Slam record, winning all the majors in the same year.....will he do it this year???....all Federised Fans want answer to only that one question!!!

Federer fights back in grand style

After being a set down and 15-40 while serving in the second set at 1-3, Roger Federer was staring down the barrel, in the quarterfinal clash at the Australian Open. The Russian Nikolay Davydenko, coming on the back of a 13-match unbeaten streak, having beaten Federer in the process, was all over the Swiss master. But, Federer staved off the double break opportunity for Davydenko and then the rest as they is history. He went on a roll after that Federer, winning 13 games in a row, taking the second set 6-3 and the third 6-0. The 2hrs 36min match ended in favour of Federer at 2-6, 6-3, 6-0, 7-5.

But, the match started off in spectacular fashion as Davydenko didn't give Federer even breathing space. Federer struggled to hold the service in the first game, but conceded the break next time to and Davydenko raced to 4-2. He broke Federer again and then served out the set leaving the pro-Federer crowd at the Rod Laver Arena shell shocked. Federer was frustrated with himself as his shots were all over the place. Even his otherwise perfect service was in disarray, with less then 50% first serves in. Davydenko broke in the third game of the second set as well and the match could well have been his, had he taken the double break to go 4-1. But, he didn't and Federer somehow found his confidence back to get back into the contest.

As Federer started hitting the ball sweetly, it was Davydenko's turn to drop his game as he lost focus and did what Federer was doing for set and a half. Federer wasn't complaining and he broke Davydenko in the first game of the fourth set and took a 2-0 lead, before Davydenko finally managed to win a game. Just when it looked as if though the match was heading the World No. 1's way, Davydenko fought for his dear life and got the break back and levelled at 4-4. The see-saw fourth set had more drama to come as Federer broke the Russian again and got to matchpoint while serving for the match. But, even getting five good first serves in a row couldn't prevent Davydenko from forcing another break to prolong the match. Federer duly broke Davydenko for the third time and finished off the match without any more fuss. It was a sigh of relief for the Federer fans as his amazing unbeaten record of most consecutive grand slam semi-final appearances got extended to 23. But, it was so near and yet so far for Davydenko.

Sshh...Genius at Work

Yes, the Genius was out in full force tonight. The tennis master, Roger Federer put up a masterful display enroute to knocking out Lleyton Hewitt in a Round 4 match at the Australian Open. The Swiss World No. 1 knocked out the local hope Hewitt 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 in just 1hr ..min. The No. 22 seed Hewitt has now lost 15 matches in a row to Federer, this being their 25th meeting.

With the crowd behind him, Hewitt started the game brightly as he brought up deuce on Federer's serve in the third game. But any hopes of a break were snuffed by two aces as Federer continued his brilliant serving from the last game. It was Federer's turn then to put pressure as he forced a break in the sixth game. Federer started taking control of the match as he went into overdrive unleashing some amazing array of shots for which Hewitt had no answer. After racing away to 5-2, Federer pushed Hewitt again on his serve. The Australian had to fight for every point as the game went longer than the rest of the set, with Federer finally forcing the second break to seal the set.

There were no break points for Hewitt in the second set as well as the set turned out to be a repeat of the first. Federer made Hewitt run all around the court with his backhand slices asking too much of the former World No. 1. The break of serve for Federer came in the fourth after a long battle. An impeccable backhand cross-court return from Federer, that dropped into the corner summed up the match as Hewitt was a mere spectator. Federer threatened for a double break and even brought up set point before Hewitt extended the set by holding on. Federer served to love to take the set 6-3.

It was more of a close contest in the third set as Hewitt summoned every ounce of energy left in him. He attacked with his net approaches to which came the fitting replies from Federer. Federer broke in the 7th game to go to 4-3. But, Hewitt came back strongly to force a break of his own as he looked to do some justice for the boisterous crowd backing him. But, Federer snuffed out any hopes by breaking again and then serving out brilliantly to finish the match in straight sets.

It was another of those easy wins for Federer, contrary to expectations. But, the quarterfinal clash against Nikolay Davydenko will be anything but easy.

No. 6 seed Davydenko had to fight hard to get past No. 9 Fernando Verdasco. in five sets, 6-2, 7-5, 4-6, 6-7(5), 6-3. After winning the first two sets, the Spaniard Verdasco fought back to level the game. Davydenko won by virtue of his better serve and less unforced errors. Verdasco had a horror service outing with an amazing 20 double faults!

Elsewhere, French hope Jo-Wilfried Tsonga advanced to the quarters after a gruelling five-set encounter against Spaniar Nicolas Almagro. He won 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 6-7(6), 9-7. He would be gunning for revenge when he plays No. 3 seed Novak Djokovi in the quarters, the man who beat him in '08 final.

Cilic downs Del Potro

Marin Cilic brought about the biggest upset at this year's Australian Open getting past No. 4 seed and US Open Champion Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina. The 14th seeded Croat got revenge for his defeat in the US Open, taking the 4hr 38min encounter 5-7, 6-4, 7-5, 5-7, 6-3.

Both the players met their match out their as they stood 198cm tall each. Both of them have their game pretty much based on the big serves as well. Del Potro was the clear favourite and he showed it why when he just got the first set with a late break. Cilic fought back brilliantly to take the next one as Del Potro looked rusty and sluggish in his movements. He called for a medical time-out for a look on his foot and continued to play poorly to lose the third set too. The set was long and looked to have turned the tide in favour of the Croat who started to look dangerous. But, Del Potro soon found his bearings and broke Cilic's serve to love to take the fourth set to get roar back into the match. But, it was all one-way in the fifth though as Del Potro looked worn out. Cilic got the decisive break and then saved a few off his own serve to end the marathon encounter at last. The ATP Chennai Open Champion will now face No. 7 seed Andy Roddick in the quarters.

Andy Roddick got past Fernando Gonzalez in another 5-set encounter 6-3, 3-6, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2. The match that lasted 3hrs 21min looked headed Gonzalez's way as the Chilean fought back from a set down. The fourth set ended in controversial fashion as Gonzalez, down at 5-6 and a break point to save, got a poor decision from the chair umpire. Roddick hit a forehand which actually landed just inside the corner, but was called out. Roddick challenged the call and the ball was called in. But to everyone's astonishment, the Chair Umpire got it horribly wrong as he gave the point and hence the set to Roddick, even though Gonzalez was would have had a shot at the ball. Gonzlalez's pleas to replay the point fell into deaf ears. The Chilean, better known as "BOMBER" Gonzalez, was frustrated after that and couldn't get his bearings in the fifth set. All his fightback was in vain as Roddick was lucky to get into the quarters.

Tennis:- Federer glides through to Round 4

The World No. 1 and '08 winner here at the Australian Open, Roger Federer sailed through without any troubles to the Round of 16 going past the No. 31 seeded Spaniard, Albert Montanes, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4, in under two hours. The Swiss master had a perfect game in terms of his service, winning around 90% of points of his serve. Infact, Montanes couldn't even get to 40 even in one game, let alone create a break opportunity. The aces flowed intermittently as the first serves kept coming out as if from a well oiled machine.

But it was not the same case with his one-handed whipped backhand and the forehand too at times. Federer was quite frustrated on quite a few occasions as the shots found the net and he even let out a few yells, quite unusual to him. Meanwhile, Montanes looked good at times, but didn't have any answers to the Federer serves. He barely managed to hold his service well, but Federer managed to find the one break of serve needed, in each of the three sets by his sheer brilliance. It was just another match for the great player, who will be tested as the "real" tournament starts now. He is sure to have a tough time when he meets local hope Lleyton Hewitt in the Round of 16.

Lleyton Hewitt though already had a tough game in his hand as he was pitted against Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis. The Round 3 encounter was expected to be a tough one for both players and was billed as the day's attraction. All expected the match to be long and hard, similar to the one the two players had in '08. The match though turned out to anything but a tight one, as Hewitt took the game by the scruff of the neck, racing away to wrap up the set 6-0. Baghdatis had barely got his eye and found himself in deep waters. He fought hard in the second set despite struggling with his right shoulder. He finally gave up when he was broken at 2-3, and decided to quit the game. It was quite a dampener for the boisterous crowd who expected a 5-set thriller, but they would have to wait till monday when Hewitt faces up the great man.

Novak Djokovic is the only Serbian left in the tournament after former Women's World No. 1's, Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic bid adieu to the tournament, much earlier than expected, upset by lower ranked opponents. Janko Tipsarevic from the men's draw too has gone out and Djokovic has been left alone to the fly the Serbian flag. The '08 champion has been quite good in the matches thus far and he had another breeze in the third Round dispatching Denis Istomin 6-1, 6-1, 6-2 in just 97 minutes. The tall Uzbek was made to do all the hard running as the 3rd seed made him toil. Djokovic raced to 5-0 in the first set with some neat play, using delicate drop shots to good effect. Istomin finally got on board with his 3rd service game before Djokovic served out the set. It was more of the same to follow for the rest of the match as the tall unseeded Uzbek had no answer to Djokovic's power play. Djokovic has been quite good in the tournament so far and he would be expected to get to the quarters easily as he plays unseeded Pole Lukasz Kobot, who got through as Mikhail Youzhny couldn't play their match due to injury.

All top seeds except No. 8 Robin Soderling have got through to the Round of 16 in the men's draw, whereas there have been a string of upsets in the women's draw. But as the seeds now clash against each other from here on in, there will be many exciting battles in Melbourne Park.

Petrova leaves Clijsters gasping

Kim Clijsters' honeymoon is over. Coming back after a 2-year retirement from the game due to marriage, the Belgian managed to win the US Open in quite incredible fashion last August. But it was not to be in the new year for her, as Russian No.19 seedNadia Petrova swept her away in the third Round of the Australian Open. The match, that Clijsters would like to forget, barely lasted an hour, with Petrova downing the 15th seed 6-0, 6-1.

It was all happening pretty quickly in the match, with the 1st set, a shutout for Kim, wrapped up in just 18 minutes. Clijsters barely had time to blink, when Petrova took the game by the scruff of the neck. From 15-40 in the 2nd game, Clijsters gave it away to concede the break, which was the 1st of the 5 breaks in the match. Petrova didn't put a foot down, serving well with big aces in between. On the other hand, Clijsters looked stunned and couldn't even get her service right. She really was trying a bit too hard at times, not doing the basics right. To the astonishment of the fans, who were right behind the comeback queen , the second set was not any good for Clijsters. She just about managed to register on the scoreboard, before Petrova wrapped it all up. The only time the former World No. 1 and two-time finalist here, matched Petrova shot for shot, was in the last game, by which game was all over. The longest rally of the match ended with despair for the crowd and Clijsters, who was blown away by the Siberian Storm.

Meanwhile, in the Men's draw, the No. 7 seed Andy Roddick came back from a set down to get past Feliciano Lopez 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-4, 7-6(3).The match was much easier for Roddick than the scoreline suggests, with the unseeded Spaniard looking quite lethargic after winning the tight opening set in the tie-breaker. The match certainly lacked intensity from the middle of the second set onwards, with Roddick getting through without much of a challenge in his servce games. Lopez looked unwilling to go that extra mile, which Roddick did quite often. The American was the only one doing the running and it paid off as he wrapped up the next two sets comfortably. In the fourth set, Lopez served well to deny Roddick the elsuive break and took the set into the tie-breaker. It was all one-way traffic in the tie-breaker as Roddick raced to 4-0 before wrapping it up 7-3. Roddick will now face up '07 finalist Fernando Gonzalez in the fourth Round. The 11th seeded Chilean though was pushed to five sets by Evgeny Korolev, winning the 3hr 22min encounter 6-7(5), 6-3, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4.

On the other hand, No. 4 seed Juan Martin Del Potro had another scrappy match against German Florian Mayer, edging past in four sets, 6-3, 0-6, 6-4, 7-5. The match was much closer after the first set and the 6-0 shutout that Del Potro faced certainly poses questions about his game. The German, an unknown player was not even expected to push the big Argentine, but he did that quite well. He even threatened to take the fourth set before Del Potro scraped through. The big forhands were working well for the US Open Champion, but only in patches. Mayer moved pretty well around the court to make Del Potro work hard for his points. Del Potro got his service horribly wrong in the second set to be broken thrice. He picked himself quite well after that though, to win the third set 6-4. The see-saw battle continued with Mayer fighting back and getting a break in the fourth and threatened to take the game to the fifth. Del Potro responded with two breaks to take the set befor the tie-breaker. He might as well pick up his game for the coming matches, or risk bowing out after the highs of late last year. He would meet his match though in the Round of 16, when he faces the equally tall Croat Marin Cilic.

The Men's draw has not had any upsets since the first round exit of Robin Soderling. But, there was a possiblity of one, when Philipp Kohlschreiber matched the World No. 2 Rafael Nadal shot for shot in their Round 3 encounter. The match which looked headed to the fifth set ended in favour of the Spaniard 6-4, 6-2, 2-6, 7-5. The No. 27 seed German, known for his sledge-hammer backhand, was in full flow right from the start. He even got break points in the 4th game of first set. But he didn't capitalise and it was to be the story of the match. Kohlschreiber created more break opportunites than Nadal, but converted less number of them. When somebody does that to a top player, they end up paying a heavy price as the German found out. After the initial hiccup, it proved to be quite a breeze for Nadal as he coolly wrapped up the first two sets. Then Kohlschreiber finally woke up to lift his game and simultaneously Nadal let his game down, as the third set went the German's way with Nadal unable to serve it out to stay in the set. Kohlschreiber had his chances to break in the third as well, and he did take one of them. But, Nadal broke back immediately and then at 5-5, and served out the match. Kohlschreiber though was left wondering about his missed chances as Nadal passed through to the Round of 16 in his title defense. He will meet another challenger in the big serving Croatian giant Ivo Karlovic. Like almost all the top seeds, Nadal too would have to improve to stay alive till the business end of the first Grand Slam of the new decade.

Tennis:- Baghdatis comes back from the dead

Marcos Baghdatis was on the brink after losing the first two sets and the third set went into the tie-breaker, in his 2nd Round match at the Australian Open, against No. 17 seed David Ferrer of Spain. The unseeded Cypriot, who was also a finalist here back in '06, won the 4hr 9min encounter 4-6, 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-3, 6-1. It was all smooth sailing for Ferrer as he took the first two sets quite comfortably. But, Baghdatis soon woke up and with his passionate supporters rallying behind him, he fought back to get back into the match in the third set. Once he found his rhythm, it was all one-way traffic from there as Ferrer surrendered the next two sets without putting up much of a fight. Baghdatis will now face local boy Lleyton Hewitt, the 22nd seed, in Round 3, who won through by beating American Daniel Young 7-6 (7/3) 6-4 6-1.

It was quite an easy outing for World No. 1 Roger Federer who went past Victor Hanescu in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3, 6-2. After having a tougher than expected encounter in the 1st round, where he dropped a set and looked scratchy, Federer found his rhythm and some of his beautiful touch in the Round 2 match, finishing off the match in just 1hr 39min. He broke early in the first to go 3-0 and then captured another break to wrap up the set 6-2. It was more of the same in the next two sets and Hanescu had to toil hard to just trouble the scorers in the final set. Federer raced to 4-0 in the third set, before a long fifth game ensued which Hanescu just about managed to win. The marvellous one-handed backhand of Federer was out in full show in the match, where "the master" hardly broke a sweat. Prince William was in attendance later in the match to witness the "King" himself showing off his mastery. Federer will now meet No. 31 seed Spaniard Albert Montanes in the third Round.

Tennis:- Del Potro outlasts Blake in a thriller

No. 4 seed and reigning US Open Champion Juan Martin Del Potro had a gruelling 2nd Round win against American James Blake, where he came back from two sets to one down. He won the 4hr 17min long marathon 6-4 6-7(3) 5-7 6-3 10-8. The Argentine eventually edged through with his huge serves and powerful groundstrokes, with both players struggling with their fitness towards the latter stages.

The defending champion and World No. 2 Rafael Nadal eased through to the 3rd Round of the Australian Open on day 3. He had an easy outing with a 6-2 6-2 6-2 win over Lukas Lacko. The Spaniard had no trouble getting past the Slovak, who was playing a top 10 player for the first time. There were some nice shots played early on Lacko, but hit them consistently enough to win games as Nadal breezed past all the sets in similar fashion. But Nadal will be tested in Round 3 when faces No. 27 seed Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany.

Former US Open Champion and No. 7 seed American Andy Roddick served himself through to Round 3 against Brazil's Thomaz Bellucci. He notched up 11 aces and an impressive 80% 1st serves to win 6-3 6-4 6-4. The hard hitting Roddick, the man with the quickest serve on the tour, will play Spanish leftie Feliciano Lopez in the third round after the Spaniard overcame Rainer Schuettler 6-3 2-6 6-3 6-2.

No. 5 seed Andy Murray and No. 11 seed Chilean Fernando Gonzalez were the other top players to advance to Round 3, with both notching up easy straight set wins.

The big upset came from the women's draw with No. 5 seed Elena Dementieva knocked out in straight sets. It was not an upset in terms of pedigree of the players, but in terms of rankings. It was none other than the '04 Champion Justin Henin who went past the Russian in a tight and engrossing encounter 7-5, 7-6 (6). The Belgian was ranked 9999 as she was making a comeback two years after her retirement from the sport.

Her compratriot and fellow returnee Kim Clijsters, Russians Dinara Safina and Svetlana Kuzetsova were the other top seeds from the women's draw to advance to Round 3.

Some good news for the Indian fans from the Open as Somdev Devvarman and Prakash Amritraj fought their way into the second round of the men's doubles event. Somdev and Prakash had to dig deep to beat Americans James Cerretani and Travis Rettenmaier 5-7 6-4 7-5.

In contrast, Bopanna and his Pakistani partner Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi squandered one set lead to lose 6-4 1-6 6-7(6) to South African Rik De Voest and Scott Lipsky of the United States.

Tennis:- Federer through, but not before a scare

'08 Champion Roger Federer advanced to the 2nd round of the Australian Open by beating Igor Andreev 4-6, 6-2, 7-6, 6-0. The World No. 1 Federer was expected to have a tough encounter for a 1st round match, playing the World No. 37. It turned out to be much tougher than expected with Andreev taking the 1st set and then fighting all the way to the tie-breaker in the third. He eventually ran out of steam in the 4th set, where the 15-time Grand Slam Champion Federer steamrolled him.

Things looked pretty easy early on with Federer breaking Andreev's serve to go 3-1 up. But Andreev didn't give up and broke back immediately. He then broke Federer's serve again and then served out the set at 6-4. The big hitting Andreev was all over Federer with his big forehand winners. Federer struggled throughout the 1st set to cope with the bounce of the ball and looked rusty. The lack of practice, with him opting out of his regular Aus. Open warmup tournament of Kooyong Classic, told. The master though picked himself up in the second and wrapped it up 6-2. Andreev got some of his 1st set play back in the 3rd. Just when the match started to turn Andreev's way with him serving at set point, Federer fought back and he never looked back. The tie-breaker and the fourth set turned out to be a breeze for the 3-time Aus. Open winner, with Andreev tiring out. The 6-0 scoreline of the final set didn't quite tell the story of the struggles of Federer. He faces Romanian Vicotor Hanescu in the 2nd round.

Robin Soderling followed Maria Sharapova in the top casualty list in the 1st round, after losing to World No. 113 Marcel Granollers 5-7, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2. The Swede succumbed to defeat by the the Spaniard despite winning the opening two sets. He was followed by 16th seed Tommy Robredo who crashed out in straight sets.

Novak Djokovic, Nikolay Davydenko, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gael Monfils were the top seeds to go through to 2nd round in straight sets, but Fernando Verdasco had to fight it out in four sets.

The women's draw was business as usual with the William sisters and the Serbs Ivanovic and Jankovic sailed through in straight sets.

It was a disappointing day for Indian fans though with Sania Mirza crashing out in straight sets. The World No. 27 lost out to Aravan Rezai 4-6, 2-6. She was guilty of some poor serving and of not capitalising on the break opportunities. Now Sania would look to do well in the women's doubles event where she has been seeded 10th along with her Spanish partner Virginia Ruano Pascual.

Tennis:- The Australian Open is here

Yes, its here, the Grand Slam of Asia Pacific, the Australian Open is here. The colourful fortnight event is a great way to kick-start the new season of some enthralling Tennis. There's been hardly a buildup to the event and not much talk of the favourites as well. The usual suspects of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are expected to clinch the title, but with other players not far behind, and the grand twosome no more quite invincible, it would take a brave man to predict the winner.

The tournament had barely started and the first big casualty is in the form of '08 champion Maria Sharapova from the women's draw. Her compatriot and namesake Maria Kirilenko got the better of her in a marathon 3hr 20min encounter. There were no other upsets in the day with the seeds having it easy. Murray, Safina and Clijsters sailed through smoothly along with hot favourite Spaniard Rafael Nadal, who had a scare when he was in danger of losing the opening set down at 3-5. The nervous opponent Luczak couldn't capitalize and it was business as usual from there on.

The swiss master Roger Federer will take field tomorrow against Igor Andreev. This has been the only major to elude him for the last two years, losing to arch-rival Nadal in last year's final and to eventual champion Novak Djokovic in the semi-final of '08. He would be looking to extend his record tally of 15 Grand Slam titles and start another quest for "the Grand Slam". At 28, he's not getting any younger and hence this could be the last chance for him to get to the incredible feat, the only blank space on his otherwise awe-inspiring CV. The younger opponents would certainly have other ideas and it will be fascinating to see how the master copes with them. He would certainly need to produce some of the magical tennis he played in that memorable semi-final against Andy Rodick on course to his title triumph at Melbourne Park here in '07.