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Monday 19 January 2009
By Charlotte James
Roger Federer has made a slightly shaky start to his bid for a record-equalling 14th Grand Slam title, dismissing Andreas Seppi 6-1 7-6 7-5 in the first round of Australian Open 2009 on Monday night.
Going into the match, Federer held a 3-0 head-to-head advantage over Seppi, and at times it looked like the world No.35 might reclaim some of that lost ground, helped by some big serving that saw him clocking deliveries with speeds upwards of 199km/h.
Federer played a slow first game against the Italian, facing break points. But the world No.2 steadied and rapidly raced to a one set lead, winning 93 per cent of points on his first serve and a total 27 points to Seppi’s 13 for the set.
The Italian began to make a better fist of things in the second set, withstanding some heavy pressure from Federer in the seventh game to repel a break point and keep his nose ahead, 4-3.
Seppi held a set point on Federer’s serve at 6-5 in the second set and narrowly missed levelling proceedings when a backhand approach shot was deemed out by the video line-calling system.
Forcing a tiebreak, Federer managed to pull out the second set seven points to four, but his progress was less than straightforward.
And 24-year-old Seppi wasn’t done there. The Caldaro resident held a break point on Federer’s serve at 2-2 in the third set and, while he couldn’t convert, Federer was displaying an uncharacteristic fragility as the third stanza unfolded.
Clearly still calibrating his game to the Melbourne Park conditions, the record-breaking Swiss made an uncharacteristic error of judgement in the fifth game of the third set, allowing a Seppi return to bounce on the baseline directly between his feet without attempting to hit it, conceding the point.
The mistake appeared to wake up the three-time Australian Open champion, and, 127 minutes into the match and leading 5-4 in the third set, Federer clawed his way to his first match point.
While Seppi managed to hang tough to hold serve for 5-5, and turned things around to earn a break point of his own in the 11th game, the Italian’s arsenal was nearly exhausted. Federer completed his first round assignment on his fourth match point in a contest that lasted 141 minutes.
Federer was complimentary about his first round opponent following the match. “He’s a very tough customer and he plays really well,” said the No.2 seed. “He served well today which made it hard for me. I thought I played well, but he’s a quality player.”
And the Swiss star didn’t appear overly concerned with his first day jitters saying, “I was struggling with the balls and getting used to the lights, but overall I’m happy with my performance.”
Quick facts
Federer won 122 points to Seppi’s 102
Federer served up nine aces to Seppi’s one
Across the three sets, Federer won more than 75 per cent or more of points on his first serve
Seppi won 100 per cent of his volley points
Roger Federer.
O tenista suíço  havia empreendido hoje em dia, a conquista do  com uma confortável vitória sobre o italiano , por 6-1, 7-6 (4), 6-4.

Para alcançar a vitória no aberto, a igualdade do recorde do americano , de 14 títulos de .

Apoiado por um serviço bastante confortável, com acelerações precisas e golpes desde o fundo, digno de admiração, Federer liquidou a primeira de suas luta com a mesma frescura com que na semana passada conquistou o título na exibição de Kooyong. O suíço vai agora enfrentar russo , da frase previa, 119 do mundo e se livrou do espanhol , finalista em 1997, por 6-3, 6-1 e 7-6 (7).

No encontro Federer ganhou 122 pontos, em contraste aos 102, Seppi, serviu nove ''aces'' em contraste com o um ''ace'' que poderia servir seu adversário e durante os três sets atingiu 75% mais pontos do que o seu adversário.

Em uma conferência de imprensa após a conclusão da partida, Federer afirmou: