ATP News : 2006


Federer Makes Winning Debut on Grass; Clement Wins

World No.1 Roger Federer began the grass court season with a 7-6(4), 6-2 win over qualifier Rohan Bopanna at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, Germany


In the first set both players held serve until the tie-break in which Federer scored a decisive mini-break at 4-4. The top seed then broke Bopanna in the second game of the second set, as Bopanna double faulted three times during the game. Federer took 3-0 and 5-2 leads and broke Bopanna again in the last game to win the match after 71 minutes.

Federer, who is coming off a disappointing loss in the final of Roland Garros to Rafael Nadal, claimed the last three titles in Halle (d. Safin in 2005, Fish in 2004 and Kiefer in 2003). In each of those years, Federer also went on to win the Wimbledon crown. The Swiss star, who is riding a 37-match grass court winning streak, last lost on this surface in 2002 in Wimbledon’s first round to Mario Ancic. If he wins the tournament, Federer will tie Bjorn Borg’s Open Era record of 41 straight victories on grass. A title in Halle would also make this the first tournament Federer has won four times in a row.

Arnaud Clement also advanced to the second round with a 7-5, 6-3 win over lucky loser Kristian Pless, who entered the main draw after second seed Nicolas Kiefer had to withdraw with a wrist injury. The Frenchman, who captured one of his three career titles this year in Marseille, holds a 28-23 career-record on grass.

Kristof Vliegen, the No.8 seed, defeated qualifier Marco Chiudinelli 7-6(4), 6-0 in one hour, 15 minutes. The Belgium, who turns 24 in eight days, has a record of 23-12 this year, which helped raise his ranking to a career best No. 36 last month. He reached the final at Munich in May (l. to O. Rochus) and the semifinals at Chennai in January and Memphis in February. This is his first appearance in Halle. For a spot in the semifinals Vliegen will take on Germany’s Florian Mayer



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