Australian Open: Roger Federer after a smooth opening win in round 2
Roger Federer celebrated a tailor-made start at the Australian Open 2020.
by Florian Goosmann
last edit: Jan 20, 2020, 06:25 am
Federer won 6: 3, 6: 2 and 6: 2 against the American Steve Johnson and entered the second round of the Australian Open for the 21st time.
The Swiss took only 1 hour and 21 minutes to win, and little was felt of his concerns. Federer had previously spoken about not having high expectations due to his lack of match practice - he last played an official match at the ATP Finals in November. In contrast to Johnson, who had already had two Challenger tournaments in Australia, one of which he had won.
But Federer had a dream start, he broke the world ranking 75. directly in his first service game, as well as in sets two and three. Federer was convincing in all respects and also showed a strong return. He got five breaks in total.
Federer varied well and often sought the way to the network - with success. In 32 attacks, he scored 72 percent of the point.
Federer, currently third in the world rankings, now faces the winner of the match between Serbian Filip Krajinovic and Frenchman Quentin Halys.
"I am very happy, it is nice to be back in Australia," said Federer afterwards in an on-court talk with Jim Courier. "I felt very good."
He trained "really hard", "as I always do". He was glad that he had no setbacks. "This is a fine prerequisite for the season." He had already felt good in training, it was nice if that was also shown on the match court.
Federer at the Australian Open: Two more wins up to 100
Federer could celebrate another anniversary at the Australian Open 2020: Two more wins and he would have won 100 matches in Melbourne - after defeating Johnson, his record is 98 wins with 14 losses. In 2004, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2017 and 2018, Federer had triumphed at the Australian Open .
The Swiss had waived a preparation tournament for his start on the seventh title on the Yarra River, although he had originally agreed to the newly founded ATP Cup. Federer had justified his rejection with the desire for time with his family. After his season ended, Federer had a series of show fights with Alexander Zverev in South America.