Australian Open: Seeds advance on Opening Day

WORLD Number one, Novak Djokovic, defeated Korea’s Hyeon Chung 6/3; 6/2; 6/4 in a match that lasted one hour 45 minutes to advance to the next round.

The tournament top seed was relaxed through the duel in which both players were pushed all over the court. The Korean had only one break point, which he won but Djokovic won five of seven break points, to make the difference and win the match.

Tournament’s third seed, Roger Federer stepped on court in white attire (a la Wimbledon) with green stripes in the front of his vest, and a green headband. He stamped his authority over his opponent from Tbilisi Georgia early in the match. Nikoloz Basilashvilli held his serve to take the opening game. Federer held and promptly broke his opponent in the third game. The Swiss maestro held serve to go up 3-1 and the Georgian won his next service game. One more break of serve and a hold gave Federer the first set at 6-2.

The 118th ranked Nikoloz put up a determined effort in the opening game of the second set. The first point lasted 26 rallies, but it was won by Federer. This seemed to diminish his opponent’s resolve as Federer broke him on the first serve of the second set and opened his next service game with an ace.

A second service break gave him a commanding 4-1 lead and he took the set at 6-1. The players held their serves in the first six games, but Federer took his opponent’s serve in the sixth and eight games to win the set and match in one hour twelve minutes. He later described his performance as a nice opening, remarking that it was better than his outing in the Brisbane warm-up tournament leading up to this his 65th consecutive participation in a Grand Slam.

In a morning session match, Serena Williams entered the Rod Laver Arena dressed in a sunflower yellow outfit with open torso that revealed a navel jewelry.

Fashion asides, she meant business in facing Italy’s Camila Giorgio. One could not tell if she had thoughts of losing to another Italian in the last Grand slam, as she was given a tough fight in which she, however, retained control.

In a close match, both players served well averaging 176/175 kph respectively, although the Italian had a higher speed on second serve; an evidence of confidence in serving.