Federer rallies to win...

MELBOURNE: The last time Roger Federer played at Rod Laver Arena, he left in tears after losing the Australian Open final to Rafael Nadal a year ago.

There were no such waterworks on Tuesday, just a few tense moments for the Swiss star seeking his 16th Grand Slam title in a 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (2), 6-0 first-round win over Igor Andreev of Russia.

Federer lost the first set after leading by a break, then saved three set points in the 12th game of third set before winning the tiebreaker and totally dominating the fourth set.

First casualty

Meanwhile, Swedish eighth seed Robin Soderling was fuming after he became the first top-10 casualty of the Australian Open, bowing out in the first round.

The 25-year-old looked on target for an easy win after he took the first two sets, but eventually lost to Spain’s 113th-ranked Marcel Granollers 5-7, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2. Soderling made 67 unforced errors and was scathing in his assessment of his performance.

Easy win

Top-ranked Serena Williams, the defending women’s champion, had an easy first-round match, beating Urszula Radwanska of Poland 6-2, 6-1.

Her sister, sixth-seeded Venus, also advanced easily, beating Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic 6-2, 6-2.

Serena’s win in 73 minutes contrasted to what the WTA Tour said was a record for the longest women’s match at a Major in the Open era.

Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic needed 4 hours, 19 minutes to beat Russia’s Regina Kulikova 7-6(5), 6-7(10), 6-3.

Sania Mirza crashed out in the first round losing to 26th seed Aravane Rezai of France. Rezai beat the unseeded Indian 6-4, 6-2 in one hour and nine minutes.

The first set could have gone either way with both the players getting an equal number of opportunities to break.

However, Sania missed all the four breakpoints while the French rode on one break to shoot into lead.

In the second set too, Sania got four chances to break her rival but could convert just one while she dropped her serve thrice. Now Sania would look to do well in women’s doubles where she has been seeded 10th along with Virginia Ruano Pascual of Spain.

Santoro’s distinction

Meanwhile, French veteran Fabrice Santoro on Tuesday became the first player to compete in 70 Grand Slam tournaments in four decades.

However, Santoro, who played in a record 18th Australian Open, made his final bow when he went down 7-5, 7-5, 6-3 to 14th seed Croatian Marin Cilic. Richard Gasquet was beaten by 20th-seeded Mikhail Youzhny 6-7(9), 4-6, 7-6(2), 7-6(4), 6-4 in a night match lasting 4 hours, 53 minutes. — Agencies