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1/3/12 8:21 PM | Ricky Dimon
Roger Federer makes short work of Nikolay Davydenko in his 2012 season-opener on Tuesday in Doha. Ivo Karlovic also advances to round two after surviving Sergiy Stakhovsky in a third-set tiebreaker.
(2) Roger Federer d. Nikolay Davydenko 6-2, 6-2
In a rematch of last year's final, Federer cruised past Davydenko in round one of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open on Tuesday night. The No. 2 seed and defending champion needed just 54 minutes to kick off his 2012 campaign on a victorious note. Federer broke at love to open the match with a bang and it never got much better for Davydenko.
After Federer served out the opening frame of play at 5-2, set two progressed in similar fashion. Davydenko tossed in three double-faults in the first game of the second, including on break point. The 30-year-old Russian managed to hold serve twice, but he never came close to breaking his opponent. Federer wrapped up his near-flawless effort with four aces and no double-faults while making 85 percent of his first serves.
Ivo Karlovic d. Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-7(1), 6-2, 7-6(3)
Karlovic's season began in typical fashion as he went the distance to a third-set tiebreaker before finishing off Stakhovsky in two hours and 10 minutes on Tuesday. The 6'10'' Croat fired a mere eight aces in 16 service games plus two tiebreakers, but he never got broken and saved all four of the break points he faced throughout the match.
Stakhovsky got off to a strong start by dominating the first-set 'breaker seven points to one. The 62nd-ranked Ukrainian, though, struggled on serve in the second and never came close to putting his opponent away. Stakhovsky fought off both break points he faced to force the final-set decider, but he simply did not have enough for Karlovic in the end. Both players won 79 percent of their first-serve points during the opening-round thriller.
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Jesus Fed in action. Great display of tennis.
bleck , 1/4/12 10:26 AM
Fed is now Jesus is he? I thought he was God.
nadline , 1/4/12 12:45 PM
nadline, ROFL, you obviously haven't been paying close enough attention ;)
deuce , 1/4/12 1:34 PM
"Fed is now Jesus is he? I thought he was God."
No. Federer is jesus because he loses every now and then when he plays his best. Nadal is God because he wins every match he plays when healthy. It's just a shame the guy has all this injuries, supposedly.
bleck , 1/4/12 1:38 PM
Bleck - it was actually Roger baby who coined the phrase "if I am healthy the match is on my raquet". I cannot remember the exact wording that went with it in the interview but the following is a general summing up by a journalist.
As he loses more and more matches, one character flaw is becoming apparent: Federer is a sore loser.
He seems gracious when he leaves the court after a defeat. But when interviewed afterwards, he rarely praises his opponent's game, rather laying blame on certain factors like the weather or a physical disability.
Federer's interview after his loss to Berdych at Wimbledon 2010, however, was in a league of its own. It certainly surpasses all other news conferences in which he has engaged, with regards to the sheer number of excuses dished out by the Swiss.
When asked to explain his losses to some of the tour's bigger hitters, he said, "if I'm healthy I can handle those guys." He mentioned a stiff back and a sore leg.
schatz , 1/4/12 3:41 PM
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A clinical destruction of the veteran Devydenko by the maestro.
Alien , 1/3/12 8:49 PM