Federer swiftly into stride
北京时间6月23日晚，2008年度第三项大满贯赛事--温布尔顿网球公开赛开始首轮角逐。在中央球场进行的一场男单首轮争夺中，大赛头号种子、瑞士天王费德勒直落三盘，以总比分3-0击败斯洛伐克老将赫巴蒂，强势晋级男单第二轮。三盘的具体比分为6-3、6-2和6-2。费德勒在温网取得35连胜，同时草地球场取得60连胜！瑞士天王男单第二轮的对手将是瑞典娃娃脸索德林。
作为男单头号种子，费德勒本赛季至今的状态实在一般。不过过去五年，瑞士天王年年在温网夺冠。今年费德勒的目标非常明确，那就是温网六连冠。首轮比赛，费德勒遭遇目前世界排名第272位的斯洛伐克老将赫巴蒂。2008年，赫巴蒂只打了5场单打比赛取得2胜3负的战绩。显然，赫巴蒂目前的竞技状态不佳；不过在此之前费德勒却从未击败过赫巴蒂。两人此前两次交锋，全部都是赫巴蒂赢球！
Roger Federer provided a masterly response on Centre Court today to those who have expressed doubts about his recent form. The Wimbledon champion, chasing his sixth consecutive title at The Championships, opened his defence in rousing fashion, defeating the Slovak Dominik Hrbaty 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 in one hour 19 minutes.
So much was Federer in command, particularly on his own serve, that he never faced a break point, and some of his classically executed winners were up to even his own demanding standards.
This was the Swiss's 36th win on the grass of Wimbledon and 60th in succession when his victories in Halle, Germany are included. Having received a warm and sunny welcome when he took to the court at 1pm, Federer basked in a rousing ovation at the end. The delighted Federer acknowleged the cheers, hurling his wrist bands into the crowd.
The 30-year-old Hrbaty put up a much better fight than might have been expected from someone who got into Wimbledon with a protected ranking of 70 after several months out because of two elbow operations, and who has won only one match on the ATP Tour this year.
He was also able to celebrate extravagantly the shot of the match. Left flat-footed in the first set by a Federer lob and unable to get to the ball for an approved return, Hrbaty struck it back between his legs for a clean winner down the line, astonishing Federer.
One of only three players to hold a winning record against Federer - he came into this match with a 2-0 lead - Hrbaty never looked like extending that advantage. Federer, hitting with power and accuracy from the start, won the first 11 points and was 4-1 ahead after just 10 minutes.
From that moment Hrbaty made a much better battle of the first set, even holding his serve to love on one occasion. Even so, Federer had the first set wrapped up in 25 minutes, and followed up a service break at the start of the second set by opening up a 4-0 lead. Hrbaty fought off a break point that would have put the defending champion 5-0 ahead but the second set was Federer's in 29 minutes.
There were cheers for Hrbaty, whose finest Grand Slam performance was a Roland Garros semi-final in 1999, when he held serve to open the third set, the first time he had led in the match. Perhaps this served to remind Federer that matches have been lost from two sets up in the past. At any rate he began to unveil his full range of strokes, allied to excellent movement on the fresh, new surface and, hard though Hrbaty fought, the Swiss knocked off five games in succession.
There was a heart-warming moment when, at the changeover before Federer prepared to serve for the match, Hrbaty broke all the conventions by going to sit alongside his opponent for a chat. If he was asking Federer to go easy, it did no good. The final game was won to love and Federer was impressively embarked on the defence of his crown.
