Australian Open: Federer fires for seventh title hunt

Australian Open: Federer fires for seventh title hunt

The 38-year-old third seed dominated the 41st-ranked Krajinovic 6-1, 6-4, 6-1 on Rod Laver Arena, stretching his record over him to 4-0.

AgenciesUpdated: Thursday, January 23, 2020, 07:39 AM IST
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Switzerland's Tennis ace Roger Federer | @VIKI_RF Twitter

Ruthless Swiss master Roger Federer Wednesday said he had "plenty left in the tank" as he kept intact his 20-year record of reaching at least the third round of the Australian Open after crushing Serb Filip Krajinovic.

The six-time champion first played at Melbourne Park in 2000 and has gone on to make the semi-finals or better on 14 occasions, with no exits before round three.

The 38-year-old third seed dominated the 41st-ranked Krajinovic 6-1, 6-4, 6-1 on Rod Laver Arena, stretching his record over him to 4-0.

Federer, who is bidding for a seventh title to match Novak Djokovic's record, and his first since 2018, came into the tournament without playing a warm-up event but has nevertheless looked ominous.

"Very happy, been a great start to the season," he said as he moved a step closer to a 21st Grand Slam title. "I feel really relaxed on court. I've trained hard and you always hope it pays off." Asked if he felt sorry for Krajinovic, he replied: "I do feel a bit sorry, but you've got to take advantage of it."

Over his two matches so far Federer has dropped just 13 games, and admitted he preferred easy early encounters rather than tough battles to preserve energy.

"I prefer this much more than overcooked. As easy as it looks, there's always the effort, trying to extend the lead," he said.

Novak Djokovic entered the third round of the Australian Open after cruising past Japanese wildcard Tatsuma Ito. Djokovic needed just 95 minutes to advance as he defeated Ito 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 at Rod Laver Arena. He will next face another Japanese player Yoshihito Nishioka.

The Serbian won his 901st tour-level win to reach the Australian Open third round for the 13th time in the past 14 years. His 900th victory came two days ago, against Jan-Lennard Struff. The World No.2 raced to a 5-0 lead against Ito who had ousted lucky loser Prajnesh Gunneswaran of India in the first round.

India's Divij Sharan and his New Zealand partner Artem Sitak progressed to the second round of the men's doubles event but Rohan Bopanna was knocked out. Sharan and Sitak got the better of the Portuguese-Spanish duo of Pablo Carreno Busta and Joao Sousa 6-4 7-5 in a thrilling one hour, 28 minutes encounter.

The pair will next face the winner of the first-round match between 10th seeds Mate Pavic-Bruno Soares and Ben Molachlan-Luke Bambridge. On Tuesday, India's top-ranked Prajnesh Gunneswaran had crashed out.

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