Federer flies through first round at US Open

Federer hammered 40 winners past Burgsmuller Keystone

Switzerland's Roger Federer is through to the second round of the US Open in New York after defeating Germany's Lars Burgsmuller in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.

The 20-year-old, who is seeded 13th, hammered 40 winners and fired down 13 aces to win the match in a little over two hours.

After the match, Federer said: “I found it a bit difficult to get going at the start of the match, but luckily I got my first break of serve at 2-2, which really helped me relax.”

Federer’s opponent in the second round will be American wildcard Robby Ginepri, who beat Israel’s Harel Levy, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4.

There was further good news for the large Swiss contingent at this year’s US Open when George Bastl, who came through the qualifying rounds, pulled off an upset by beating Germany’s David Prinosil, 6-4,6-2-6-4.

Bastl, who is ranked 56 places below Prinosil, has now made it through to the second round at Flushing Meadow for the second time since 1999.

His match could have been against Bernese Michel Kratochvil, who lost against the seventh seed, Evgeni Kafelnikov, in five sets, 1-6, 6-1, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4. Kratochvil could have won the match, as he led two sets to one and three games to one in the fourth set.

Unfortunately, the 22-year-old double-faulted when the match was in his grasp.

There was more gloom and doom for Mark Rosset as his poor run of form followed him all the way to New York. He went down 2-6, 6-7, 5-7 to Russia’s Andrei Stoliarov.

Over in the women’s tournament, Emmanuelle Gagliardi also tasted defeat, losing to Slovakia’s Karina Habsudova on a tie-break, 7-5, 4-6, 6-7.

swissinfo with agencies