Federer finds winning touch

 

Originally published on: 26/02/10 12:43

The Swiss, who became a father to twin daughters last month having won his 15th Grand Slam title at Wimbledon, was making his first appearance since that victory at the All England Club after receiving a first-round bye in Canada.

Federer needed a tie-break in the first set against Canadian opponent Frederic Niemeyer but came through 7-6 (7/3) 6-4 as he began his preparations in earnest for the defence of his US Open title.

Federer fired down 16 aces against his 33-year-old opponent, who is ranked 487 in the world.

He will now face either compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka or Andrey Golubev in the third round.

Andy Murray cruised to a 6-4 6-2 win over Jeremy Chardy in his first match since losing to Andy Roddick in the Wimbledon semi-finals.

The world number three wrapped up victory in his first meeting with the Frenchman in one hour and 34 minutes to set up a third-round match with Juan Carlos Ferrero or Gael Monfils.

Service breaks in the opening games of each set paved the way for the Scot, who could move up to second in the rankings, ahead of Rafael Nadal, if the Spaniard loses on Wednesday against compatriot David Ferrer and Murray makes the last four.

Ferrero recorded a thumping win over Lleyton Hewitt in the first round, brushing aside the Australian 6-1 6-4.

Fourth seed Novak Djokovic overcame Canadian wild card Peter Polansky 6-4 7-6 (8/6) in his second-round clash, with the Serbian firing 11 aces in the match.

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