Third seed Roger Federer, who is
bidding to become the second man in Australian Open history to win five titles,
got his campaign off to a strong start with a 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 win over Russian
qualifier Alexander Kudryavtsev on Monday.
It was the Swiss superstar's 60th
match win at Melbourne Park (60-8 overall). Federer hit 14 aces and 43 winners
in the first-time meeting, which lasted one hour and 38 minutes on Rod Laver
Arena. Kudryavtsev, making his Grand Slam championship debut, committed 42
unforced errors.
"I'm always excited,"
said Federer on returning to the Australian Open. "I felt it actually
walking down that Walk of Champions, getting out on court and feeling like, you
know what, I have good intensity and I am really excited to see the Aussie
crowd. I was anxious to find out how I was going to play, how my opponent was
going to play me. I was really excited and a little nervous actually going into
it, which was a good feeling to have. I'm looking forward to the other matches."
Federer won his four titles in
2004 (d. Safin), 2006 (d. Baghdatis), 2007 (d. Gonzalez) and 2010 (d. Murray).
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