Federer not happy with US surface
Source: Agencies |
August 31, 2011, Wednesday
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ROGER Federer took aim at US Open organizers after an easy win, Maria Sharapova overcame a fright and Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova was a shock elimination at the US Open on Monday.
Federer was more worried about the playing surface than his opponent as he breezed past Santiago Giraldo of Colombia, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2.
Gael Monfils, Mardy Fish and Thomas Berdych also won in straight sets on a comfortable day for the big names in the men's draw. Serbia's Viktor Troicki was the only seeded player to lose.
Vera Zvonareva and Sharapova both progressed, as did Marion Bartoli and Sam Stosur, while Kvitova departed.
Federer joined Andre Agassi on 224 victorious singles matches at grand slam tournaments, putting them equal second, nine behind Jimmy Connors' record total. Federer will next play Israel's Dudi Sela.
However the third-seeded Swiss showed he was still eager for more challenges, complaining that organizers had made the courts too slow and too similar to those of the Australian Open; not providing enough variety for Federer's liking.
"Did they make a mistake? Maybe they did paint the court a bit too rough. It's just unfortunate that maybe all the slams are too equal," the 16-time major champion said. "They should feel very different to the Australian Open, and now I don't feel it really does.
"The night session just feels like you can take huge cuts at the ball, you can run everything down. It's great for tennis, but I'm not sure if it's really what the game needs. The game needs different speed at slams and so forth. I don't feel we quite have that at the moment, especially if the US Open is getting slower."
Sharapova, shrieking as loudly as ever, came from a set and a break down against 19-year-old Heather Watson of Britain to win 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, improving to 12-0 this year in three-setters. Her second-round opponent will be Bulgaria's Anastasiya Yakimova.
Sharapova will be eager to go one better than she did at Wimbledon, where she lost in the final to Kvitova. Fresh off that triumph, Kvitova, a 21-year-old from the Czech Republic seeded No. 5, failed to follow it up, flopping at the US Open with a 7-6 (3), 6-3 loss to 48th-ranked Alexandra Dulgheru of Romania.
Kvitova is the first reigning Wimbledon women's champion to lose her first match at the US Open in the same season.
The seeded men's casualty Troicki lost 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 against Alejandro Falla of Colombia.
Federer was more worried about the playing surface than his opponent as he breezed past Santiago Giraldo of Colombia, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2.
Gael Monfils, Mardy Fish and Thomas Berdych also won in straight sets on a comfortable day for the big names in the men's draw. Serbia's Viktor Troicki was the only seeded player to lose.
Vera Zvonareva and Sharapova both progressed, as did Marion Bartoli and Sam Stosur, while Kvitova departed.
Federer joined Andre Agassi on 224 victorious singles matches at grand slam tournaments, putting them equal second, nine behind Jimmy Connors' record total. Federer will next play Israel's Dudi Sela.
However the third-seeded Swiss showed he was still eager for more challenges, complaining that organizers had made the courts too slow and too similar to those of the Australian Open; not providing enough variety for Federer's liking.
"Did they make a mistake? Maybe they did paint the court a bit too rough. It's just unfortunate that maybe all the slams are too equal," the 16-time major champion said. "They should feel very different to the Australian Open, and now I don't feel it really does.
"The night session just feels like you can take huge cuts at the ball, you can run everything down. It's great for tennis, but I'm not sure if it's really what the game needs. The game needs different speed at slams and so forth. I don't feel we quite have that at the moment, especially if the US Open is getting slower."
Sharapova, shrieking as loudly as ever, came from a set and a break down against 19-year-old Heather Watson of Britain to win 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, improving to 12-0 this year in three-setters. Her second-round opponent will be Bulgaria's Anastasiya Yakimova.
Sharapova will be eager to go one better than she did at Wimbledon, where she lost in the final to Kvitova. Fresh off that triumph, Kvitova, a 21-year-old from the Czech Republic seeded No. 5, failed to follow it up, flopping at the US Open with a 7-6 (3), 6-3 loss to 48th-ranked Alexandra Dulgheru of Romania.
Kvitova is the first reigning Wimbledon women's champion to lose her first match at the US Open in the same season.
The seeded men's casualty Troicki lost 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 against Alejandro Falla of Colombia.
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