Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic gave early notice of their intention to halt the "Rafa Slam" with impressive first-round wins at the Australian Open yesterday
Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic gave early notice of their intention to halt the "Rafa Slam" with impressive first-round wins at the Australian Open yesterday.
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Rafael Nadal's quest to become the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to hold all four grand slam titles simultaneously has captured the imagination but Federer and Djokovic will again offer the greatest challenge.
Record 16-time grand slam winner Federer was delighted with his display. "I thought I played great," he said afterwards. "I thought it was a good match. I don't think he (Lacko) played too bad himself," he said. Next up for Federer is Frenchman Gilles Simon, who has won both their previous two meetings.
"That doesn't affect my preparation," Federer insisted. "Maybe I will look just a bit more into what has worked and what has not worked against him in the past.
"I have to remember the good things I did, because both matches we did play against each other were close."
Djokovic was arguably even better than Federer in the final match of the day at Rod Laver Arena.
He claimed the Granollers serve seven times and never let the Spaniard settle.
Satisfied
"Definitely I'm satisfied with the performance today," he said. "It's my first competitive match (of 2011). I had a couple in the Hopman Cup, but this is different. It's a grand slam and the best-of-five.
"I had around seven, eight days between the Hopman Cup and the start of the Australian Open to get ready. I practised really hard and worked on a couple of things.
"I am just happy with the way I played overall. Now I look forward to the upcoming challenges."
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