Imperious Federer wins second Australian Open

By Julian Linden

MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Top seed Roger Federer overcame an
early scare to ease past Marcos Baghdatis 5-7, 7-5, 6-0, 6-2 on
Sunday to win the Australian Open for the second time while
capturing his seventh grand slam title.

The unflappable Swiss rebounded from a nervous start when
he dropped the first set with a string of unforced errors then
trailed 2-0 in the second, to run away with the match and end
Baghdatis’s magical odyssey.

The unseeded Cypriot had captured the imagination of tennis
fans the world over with his fairytale run to the championship
match, but was unable to keep pace with Federer once the world
number one raised his game.

Federer won 11 games in a row between the second and fourth
sets then broke Baghdatis’s serve to seal victory and become
the first man since Pete Sampras in 1993-94 to win three
consecutive grand slams.

Federer won Wimbledon and the U.S. Open last year and if he
wins the French Open final in June, he will become the first
man since Australian Rod Laver in 1969 to hold all four grand
slam titles.

The 24-year-old Federer also joined American Richard Sears
and Briton Will Renshaw as the only men to win their first
seven grand slam finals. Sears and Renshaw both achieved the
feat in the 1880s.

CONFIDENT START

The 20-year-old Baghdatis made a confident start in his
first grand slam final, breaking Federer’s serve in the fifth
game then again in the 11th game after handing back the initial
break.

He skipped out to a 2-0 lead in the second set as an
unusually error-prone Federer struggled to find his rhythm
before the wheels suddenly fell off the Cypriot’s challenge.

Federer got back on level terms as mistakes started to
creep into his opponent’s game, winning the second set off an
unforced mistake, then stormed through the third set in 24
minutes.

An early break in the fourth set gave Federer a 3-0 lead
and although Baghdatis held serve to end an 11-game losing
streak, his body gave in before his mind did.

He had beaten three top-10 players in Andy Roddick, Ivan
Ljubicic and David Nalbandian just to reach the final, but the
effort had taken a huge toll and he started to cramp up midway
through the fourth set.

He received treatment to his left calf muscle and although
he continued, Federer comfortably held his remaining service
games to seal victory in two hours and 46 minutes.