Federer steady in win

June 24, 2008

Roger Federer of Switzerland went up 3-0 in six minutes against Slovakia's Dominik Hrbaty during the first round of Wimbledon. He beat Hrbaty, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2, in 1 hour, 19 minutes. (Getty Images / June 23, 2008)

WIMBLEDON, England - If Roger Federer is feeling any pressure to restore his reputation at Wimbledon this fortnight, he certainly didn't reveal it during his opening victory against Dominik Hrbaty yesterday.

The top-seeded Swiss went up 3-0 in six minutes, winning 11 straight points. Federer needed just an hour and 19 minutes to beat Hrbaty, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2.

Federer has not won a major tournament all year and suffered his most lopsided Grand Slam loss to Rafael Nadal in the French Open final, but he insisted his confidence is not shaken. His win yesterday was his 60th straight on grass and 35th in a row at Wimbledon.

"I haven't been reading and haven't been listening to what has been said, so I haven't been affected," he said. "I was walking in there as defending champion, trying to defend the title again. That's all that mattered to me. ... Every time you walk out it's beautiful. The grass is perfect."

Just as Federer walked off the court, two-time women's champion No. 6 Serena Williams was finishing off Kaia Kanepi of Estonia, 7-5, 6-3, on Court 1. Williams took awhile to find her rhythm. The match was tied at 5 in the first set with a breakpoint against the American.

"That point was huge," she said. "I kept thinking, 'I can't lose serve.' She was playing unbelievable. I felt like she wasn't making any errors. I just had to hang in there."

French Open champion and top-ranked Ana Ivanovic cruised past Rossana De Los Rios, 6-1, 6-2.

Men's third seed Novak Djokovic dropped the second set but rallied past Michael Berrer, 7-5, 2-6, 6-3, 6-0.

Other male top 10 seeds who advanced included No. 5 David Ferrer and No. 10 Marcos Baghdatis. Seventh seed David Nalbandian of Argentina, a 2002 finalist, was eliminated by 98th-ranked Canadian Frank Dancevic, 6-4, 6-2, 6-4.

Among the women, No. 4 Svetlana Kuznetsova and No. 8 Anna Chakvetadze won.

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Federer steady in win

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