Federer starts well at Australian Open

Roger Federer played his first match with Swede legend and new coach Stefan Edberg in his box and it was smooth sailing as the Swiss defeated Australian James Duckworth 64 64 62 under immense heat on day two in Melbourne.

It was one of those matches where Roger just got the job done.  With the heat being over 40 degrees Celsius, to get off the court in straight sets and not expending too much energy was important, especially in this tournament with a tough road ahead.

The first two sets were pretty similar, with Fed gaining one break and squandering multiple break chances. The third set was much simpler and he got the double break lead before serving it out. He only faced one break point the whole match, which he saved, but was only four of seventeen on his own break point chances.

Federer could have been much sharper in his return games, but credit has to be due to Duckworth however, who stood as wide as possible on the ad side to serve and continuously swung a kicker sideways into the Federer one-hander. Dealing with such an unorthodox serve (for singles anyway) is tough to deal with for anyone, but especially for a one-handed backhand. Roger had a tough time dealing with the lack of pace on the delivery and the only true way to get an advantage when returning that kind of serve is to go right down the line, which is a pretty low-risk shot attempt. It was a smart tactic by the Australian but Roger did improve his return of serve the longer the match went on.

Next up is Blaz Kavcic, who Fed has never played (though he has practiced with him). Kavcic took out Stepanek who would probably have been an easier opponent since him and Roger have played so many times before. Barring a colossal breakdown, Roger should win the match in straights and hopefully, he will improve on his first round form.

Apologies for being absent during the offseason. I meant to write a few pieces here and there throughout December but I was working and I never found the time or energy for it. Besides that, I didn't really think about tennis all that much after the Davis Cup final - but I am back now and I can safely say my tennis fever is back! I hope all those reading this have had a good New Year so far and happy watching of the Australian Open.

Kyle.