Federer Back in the Grass Groove

Wimbledon Review

Day one of the 2005 Wimbledon Championships has started with a bang as all of the big names came out to play, dazzling the big crowds at the All England Club with some amazing grass court tennis.

World No. 1 Roger Federer was the first to impress as has began his campaign for a third straight Wimbledon title by easily defeating Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 on the hallowed grass of centre court.

It was Federer’s 30th consecutive victory on grass, a streak that is only bettered by Bjorn Borg who won 41 matches in a row between 1976 and 1981.

"It was a good start," said Federer.

"It's always special to come back, it's an important first step. The tournament's underway now and I feel relieved."

Marat Safin, the no.5 seed, also made a dream start to this year’s Wimbledon championships hammering grass court specialist Paradorn Srichaphan 6-2 6-4 6-4.

Safin had the big Thai on the back foot from the beginning and after the match said that he is starting to feel more at home on the grass surface.

"I felt comfortable out there. I had to find my movement and it takes time to get used to the court. Paradorn can play on grass so I had to focus and play great tennis."

Two of the other big hopes at this year’s tournament are Croatia’s Mario Ancic and Sweden’s Joachim Johansson and both players sailed easily through the first round courtesy of some big serving.

Ancic made quick work of German qualifier Tobias Summerer 6-3 7-5 6-1, while Johansson had a bit more of a struggle before sending Spaniard Albert Montanes on his way 7-6(5) 6-4 7-5.

The Australian men had quite a good day with both Lleyton Hewitt and Mark Philippoussis recording straight sets wins, while Scott Draper went one step closer to starting his golfing career losing 7-6(4) 6-4 6-3 to the Russian eighth seed Nikolay Davydenko.

Hewitt was extremely impressive in his 6-3 6-3 6-1 defeat of diminutive Belgian Christophe Rochus, but the real story of the day was Mark Philippoussis’s return to the All England Club defeating Karol Beck 7-5 6-4 6-2.

‘The Scud’ only gained entry to the tournament through a wild card and looked to be in a stack of trouble when down 5-3 in the opening set, but the big Australian fought back to win the next four games to take the set and then cruised home the rest of the way to record a convincing victory.

"As the match went on I played better and better," said Philippoussis.

"I had a bit of a slow start. I had a break and then let him get back into it but I was happy with the way I got back and broke him."

His victory now sets up a mouth watering clash in the second round against Marat Safin, a match that will surely be a centre court spectacle.

The women’s draw saw the only big upset of the day with no.10 seed Patty Schnyder exiting the tournament at the hands of little known Italian Antonella Serra Zanetti 6-4 6-7 (7) 6-3.

All of the top hopes moved through to the second round in convincing fashion with Lindsay Davenport, Amelie Mauresmo, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Kim Clijsters all racing through their matches in straight sets.

It was an extremely disappointing day for the Australian women with both Samantha Stosur and Evie Dominikovic making first round exits.

Stosur had her chances in the first set of her match against Czech Michaela Pastikova before going down 7-6(1) 6-4, while Dominikovic looked to have victory in her sights after taking the first set off Japan’s Aiko Nakamura but crumbled over the next two sets to lose 5-7 6-3 6-4.

Day One Results

Men First Round:

1-Roger Federer (Switzerland) bt Paul-Henri Mathieu (France) 6-4 6-2 6-4
3-Lleyton Hewitt (Australia) bt Christophe Rochus (Belgium) 6-3 6-3 6-1
5-Marat Safin (Russia) bt Paradorn Srichaphan (Thailand) 6-2 6-4 6-4
8-Nikolay Davydenko (Russia) bt Scott Draper (Australia) 7-6 (4) 6-4 6-3
10-Mario Ancic (Croatia) bt Tobias Summerer (Germany) 6-3 7-5 6-1
11-Joachim Johansson (Sweden) bt Albert Montanes (Spain) 7-6 (5) 6-4 7-5
Fernando Verdasco (Spain) bt 13-Tommy Robredo (Spain) 6-1 6-2 7-5
Lars Burgsmuller (Germany) 6-1 6-1 6-4 bt 16-Mariano Puerta (Argentina) 6-1 6-1 6-4
21-Fernando Gonzalez (Chile) bt Alan Mackin (Great Britain) 6-3 6-4 6-4
22-Dominik Hrbaty (Slovakia) bt Cyril Saulnier (France) 7-6 (0) 6-0 6-2
23-Juan Carlos Ferrero (Spain) bt Jamie Delgado (Great Britain) 7-6 (2) 6-1 6-4
24-Taylor Dent (USA) bt Dick Norman (Belgium) 7-6 (4) 7-6 (4) 4-6 6-7 (7) 6-1
25-Nicolas Kiefer (Germany) bt Julien Benneteau (France) 6-3 6-7 (5) 7-5 6-3 6-4
26-Feliciano Lopez (Spain) bt Bjorn Phau (Germany) 5-7 7-6 (10-8) 6-7 (5-7) 6-2 6-4
29-Nicolas Massu (Chile) bt Sargis Sargsian (Armenia) 7-6 (9-7) 6-3 6-4
31-Mikhail Youzhny (Russia) bt Marcos Baghdatis (Cyprus) 6-2 3-6 6-1 6-4
Mark Philippoussis (Australia) bt Karol Beck (Slovaia) 7-5 6-4 6-2

Women First Round:

1-Lindsay Davenport (USA) bt Alina Jidkova (Russia) 6-0 6-2
3-Amelie Mauresmo (France) bt Melinda Czink (Hungary) 6-3 6-2
5-Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) bt Rebecca Llewellyn (Great Britain) 6-0 6-1
6-Elena Dementieva (Russia) bt Iveta Benesova (Czech Republic) 6-2 6-3
9-Anastasia Myskina (Russia) bt Katerina Bohmova (Czech Republic) 5-7 7-6 (7-4) 6-4
Antonella Serra Zanetti (Italy) bt 10-Patty Schnyder (Switzerland) 6-4 6-7 (7-9) 6-3
13-Elena Likhotseva (Russia) bt Anna Smashnova (Israel) 6-2 6-2
15-Kim Clijsters (Belgium) bt Kate O'Brien (Great Britain) 6-2 6-3
17-Jelena Jankovic (Serbia Montenegro) bt Anna Chakvetadze (Russia) 6-4 6-2
22-Silvia Farina Elia (Italy) bt Martina Sucha (Slovakia) 6-4 6-2
Roberta Vinci (Italy) bt 23-Ai Sugiyama (Japan) 6-2 2-6 6-4
Magdalena Maleeva (Bulgaria) bt 24-Shinobu Asagoe (Japan) 6-2 7-6 (8-6)
Tamarine Tanasugarn (Thailand) bt 25-Karolina Sprem (Croatia) 6-2 6-2
27-Nicole Vaidisova (Czech Republic) bt Jelena Kostanic (Croatia) 6-3 3-6 6-3
Mashona Washington (USA) bt 28-Amy Frazier (USA) 6-4 4-6 6-4
30-Dinara Safina (Russia) bt Sanda Mamic (Croatia) 6-3 6-4
Aiko Nakamura (Japan) bt Evie Dominikovic (Australia) 5-7 6-3 6-4
Michaela Pastikova (Czech Republic) bt Samantha Stosur (Australia) 7-6 (7-1) 6-4

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