Defending champion Roger Federer wasted little time and energy in progressing to the second round of the Australian Open.
Second-seeded Federer looked in devastating touch as he thrashed Slovakia’s Lukas Lacko 6-1 6-1 6-3 in less than 90 minutes at Rod Laver Arena.
Lacko had “bagelled” flu-suffering world No.1 Rafael Nadal 6-0 during a three-set loss to the Spaniard earlier this month in Doha.
Federer had no such troubles, breaking Lacko’s serve seven times to comfortably set up a second-round clash with either Sydney International winner Gilles Simon of France or Taiwan’s Yen-Hsun Lu.
Seeking an open-era record fifth crown at Melbourne Park, Federer is now ominously riding an 11-match winning streak after finishing 2010 with victory over Nadal in the World Tour Finals in London and opening this season with a 67th career title in Doha.
Federer also admitted to following the Ashes, and reminded an English journalist not to get too cocky.
“I always like to watch cricket when I’m down here,” he said. “Yesterday I was watching the one-day match a bit. I know it’s big news, so you (English) should be happy that you have it (the urn).
“It’s not always going to be like that, you know. It changes.”
