Written by Shelly C. Dimaculangan
Top-seeded Roger Federer clinched his first win in the Australian Open as he toppled German Bjorn Phau in three sets (7-5, 6-0, 6-4) at Rod Laver Arena this morning.
Despite a shaky start, Federer got away from Phau’s early attack which broke three of his serves in the first set. Federer was down (5-3) in the opening set, but he sprung back by winning the next nine games.
Federer said in an interview from the Australian Open’s website that he’s happy that he managed to escape from the first set because he thought that it would result to a set loss. He added that Phau gave him a little pressure since the German gave good shots and at the start he wasn’t sturdy at all.
The second set for Federer became too easy, as he had less unforced errors and completely broke Phau’s serves. The Swiss player got the second set shortly after 20 minutes, as compared to the previous 46-minute head-to-head.
In the final set, Federer slowly got his rhythm all the way to win the match. He became more aggressive to the net and became efficient on the baseline. He had a total of 36 out of 48 net approaches and got seven service aces against Phau’s three aces for the entire match.
Federer, twice champion of the Australian Open, will either compete against Swedish Jonas Bjorkman (rank 50th) or French Oliver Patience (rank 115th) in his next match
The Australian Open, which begins today, will go on for the next two weeks.
