Federer's hair is the only thing ruffled

TENNIS: THE WIND here yesterday messed around a bit with Roger Federer's hair but did not stop the six-times champion making an impressive start to his quest to match Pete Sampras's haul of titles. Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan put up a pretty good fight, especially in the first set and a half, but Federer duly worked his way through the gears to ease into round two with a 7-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory.

It was a far cry from last year when the Swiss was staring at a first-round defeat, with Alejandro Falla of Colombia serving for the match in the fourth set. But the result was the same as Federer progressed and he even managed to throw in a bit of old fashioned chip-charge when things got a bit easier late on.

“I struggled early on in the first set to get any read on his serve, even though he’s not the biggest server,” Federer said. “He served consistently. But then I never really struggled on my serve and I was able to cruise, actually, through lots of my service games. Overall it was a good performance but conditions were tough; it was a really tricky wind out there.”

Though Federer’s wife, Mirka, was a professional player and used to be Federer’s manager, it is hard to imagine him agreeing to be coached by her, at least not seriously. Kukushkin has no such hang-ups and has been coached by his girlfriend, Anastasia Ulikhina, for the past two years. It is an arrangement he likes and they do not have any problem separating their business from their personal life.

Ulikhina, who has completed a postgraduate degree in PE, is a good player in her own right and Kukushkin is clearly benefiting, with his ranking of 61 just three places below his career high.

In the first set yesterday he matched Federer with some intelligent play but was out-hit in the tie-break as the number three seed took it 7-2.

Federer broke to lead 3-2 in the second set when Kukushkin dumped a backhand in the net but the Kazakh, playing at Wimbledon for the first time, forced two break-back points in the very next game. As it has done so many times over the years, though, the Federer serve got the Swiss out of trouble and he held the advantage to take the set.

The third set was more of a procession and it was interesting to see Federer chipping and charging at times. It is a tactic that his coach, Paul Annacone, used throughout his career and one that the American has been trying to encourage in his charge. It does not come naturally to Federer but it may be useful.

Novak Djokovic made a highly impressive start to his bid for a first Wimbledon title with a crushing 6-4 6-1 6-1 win over Jeremy Chardy.

The Serbian second seed, who has only lost one match all year, overpowered Chardy with a superb display of grasscourt tennis. “It was quite difficult for both of us, a lot of wind but I managed to get that crucial break in the first set,” Djokovic said. “(Nadal and Federer) deserve the roles of the favourites in this tournament. I am one of those players behind who is trying to work hard and wait his chance.”

GuardianService