Wed Jun 11 14:18:28 2008

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Federer wins 21st straight in Halle

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Halle, Germany (Sports Network) - Roger Federer returned from Sunday's debacle in the French Open final to beat German Michael Berrer in opening- round action Wednesday at the $1.12 million Gerry Weber Open, a grass- court Wimbledon tuneup.

The world No. 1 Federer handled Berrer in 6-4, 6-2 fashion at Gerry Weber Stadium, where the grass-loving Swiss has won his last 21 matches in succession. Federer, who hasn't lost on grass since suffering a first-round setback at the hands of Croat Mario Ancic at Wimbledon back in 2002, skipped this Halle event last year after capturing the title four years in a row, from 2003-06.

The reigning five-time Wimbledon champion Federer is fresh off his third straight runner-up finish at Roland Garros, where Rafael Nadal whipped the Swiss 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 in Sunday's finale in Paris.

Federer's second-round opponent here on Thursday will be Czech Jan Vacek.

In the second round here on Day 3, second-seeded American James Blake overcame German wild card Benjamin Becker 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 and Swede Robin Soderling ousted third-seeded and defending Halle champion Tomas Berdych 6-2, 7-5. The Czech Berdych beat Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis in last year's Halle final.

In some other second-round play, German Philipp Kohlschreiber held off compatriot Tommy Haas 7-5, 5-7, 7-6 (7-5) and wild card Andreas Beck topped fellow German Mischa Zverev 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-5), 6-1. Beck will meet Blake in Friday's quarterfinals, while Kohlschreiber will take on Soderling.