Mon Jun 23 13:42:40 2008

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Federer, Djokovic open with wins at Wimbledon

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Wimbledon, England (Sports Network) - The great Roger Federer extended his amazing grass-court winning streak to 60 matches with an easy opening-round victory Monday at Wimbledon 2008. Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic also moved into the second round at the storied All England Club.

The reigning five-time champion here pasted Slovakian Dominik Hrbaty 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 amid sun-drenched conditions on the famed Centre Court.

Federer rolled with the help of 10 aces and five service breaks, while a rusty 30-year-old Hrbaty was unable to break Federer on the Swiss' preferred surface. The former top-20 performer Hrbaty was appearing in only his fourth ATP-level tournament this year.

The 26-year-old Federer hasn't lost on grass since suffering an opening-round setback here at the hands of Mario Ancic in 2002. He's also won 25 straight on grass at the Wimbledon tune-up event in Halle, Germany.

The top-seeded/world No. 1 Federer is now riding a 35-match winning streak at Wimbledon, where Bjorn Borg holds the record by nailing down 41 straight victories here before losing to John McEnroe in the 1981 men's finale.

Federer owns 12 Grand Slam titles, including the last four U.S. Open crowns. The Swiss topped Spanish star Rafael Nadal in the last two Wimbledon finals.

Up next for Federer will be dangerous Swede Robin Soderling.

The third-seeded Djokovic improved to 13-1 in the majors this year with a 7-5, 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 victory over German Michael Berrer. Djokovic captured the Aussie Open back in January and was last year's U.S. Open runner-up to Federer.

Former Wimbledon champion Lleyton Hewitt went the distance on Monday, as the 20th-seeded Aussie had his hands full in a 6-7 (4-7), 6-3, 6-3, 6-7 (1-7), 6-2 decision against promising Dutchman Robin Haase. The former top-ranked Hewitt captured Wimbledon in 2002 and is also a former U.S. Open champ.

Meanwhile, 10th-seeded Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis got past Belgian Steve Darcis 6-3, 6-2, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3 and 15th-seeded Chilean Fernando Gonzalez cruised past American Robby Ginepri 7-6 (7-3), 7-5, 7-5. Baghdatis was the 2006 Australian Open runner-up to Federer, while Gonzalez lost to Federer in the 2007 Aussie Open finale.

A surprising upset came when German Simon Stadler took out last week's Nottingham titlist Ivo Karlovic 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3, 7-5. The 6-foot-10 Karlovic was seeded 18th at this '08 fortnight and just captured his second Nottingham title in two years this past Saturday.

In other first-round action involving seeds, No. 21 Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero overcame American Sam Querrey 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4; No. 29 Italian Andreas Seppi came back to beat German Tobias Kamke 5-7, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4; and No. 31 Spaniard Feliciano Lopez topped Argentine Brian Dabul 7-6 (7-1), 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. Ferrero is a former No. 1 and former French Open champion.

Also on Monday, French Open semifinalist Gael Monfils withdrew here, citing a right shoulder injury. The 30th-seeded Frenchman was replaced in the draw by Serbian Ilia Bozoljac.

Monfils pushed Federer to five sets in the French Open semis earlier this month and could have faced Federer in the third round this week.