Roger Federer swept past outgunned American Taylor Dent as the Swiss returned to the Stockholm Open court after a decade away, producing a 6-1, 6-2 win as he played his 900th career match Thursday.
Roger Federer swept past outgunned American Taylor Dent as the Swiss returned to the Stockholm Open court after a decade away, producing a 6-1, 6-2 win as he played his 900th career match Thursday.
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| Switzerland's Roger Federer returns to USA's Taylor Dent at the Stockholm Open yesterday. pic/AFP |
It took a mere 49 minutes for the top seed to move through as he competed at the Kungligahallen a tennis lifetime after his last appearance which ended with a second-round loss. The 16-time grand slam champion now stands 727-173 for his singles career and becomes the only active ATP player to reach 900 wins.
The rout sets up a Friday quarter-final with fellow Swiss and Olympic gold medal partner Stanislas Wawrinka.
"Playing Stan is always difficult," said Federer, who lost the Shanghai final at the weekend to Andy Murray.
"He's beaten me in the past (Monte Carlo, 2009). and he's beaten top guys like Murray at the US Open.
"We have a great friendship, it's never easy to play another Swiss guy. It will be a special occasion. I hope to have a good match."
Federer wrapped up the lightning-fast opening set against Dent in just 17 minutes, but had to work to finally take victory by winning the last four games.
He faced two break points in the fourth game of the second set before embarking on his sprint to victory.
"It was a short match, but I'm sweating don't worry," said the winner. "It's never easy in the first round. There are not a lot of guys like Dent any more, he has the slice and comes to the net a lot. He's a danger on every point. The rallies were short, which was fine for me, but it makes it tough to get a rhythm.
"To get into the quarters is wonderful. I've beaten my personal best here" after losing in the second round in his only other appearance a decade ago.
Fourth seed Ivan Ljubicic earlier pounded 12 aces to begin his debut campaign at the event with a 6-3, 6-4 defeat of Frenchman Arnaud Clement. Also, two-time champion James Blake defeated German qualifier Matthias Bachinger 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7/2).
