as Fvery Third seed Roger Federer got his Australian Open off to a sizzling start with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 victory over Steve Johnson on Rod Laver Arena.
The Swiss played splendid tennis in the 85-minute encounter, firing off 30 winners and ten aces to remain undefeated in first round matches in Melbourne (20-0).
Brilliant Federer serves up masterclass to kick off Melbourne campaign
Federer asserted his dominance from the start, holding to love and knocking off a forehand volley winner on break point to take an immediate 2-0 lead. Fending off a break point in his next service game, the Swiss was soon ahead 4-1 after just 18 minutes. A brief rain delay to close the roof forced the players off court.
Nothing changed after play resumed with the six-time Australian Open champion sending down back-to-back aces to cap off a dominant first set. The second set was more of the same, the Swiss rifling a forehand winner to claim a 3-0, double break edge. He showed more deft touch to put away another game and yet another forehand winner gave Federer a two-set lead.
Johnson was a mere bystander throughout this match and he watched Federer break to open the third set and hold with a sumptuous backhand volley for a 2-0 lead. The American was able to register a couple of games, but he could do nothing to change the outcome and at match point, he drew a backhand error from the world number 75 to complete an utterly dominant performance.
"I'm very happy. It's nice to be back here in Australia", Federer said following the match. "It was a really good first round for me. I trained really hard in the offseason, obviously needed some vacation too, toured South America a little bit. Then I needed a rest and then trained really hard as I always do. I'm happy I played well. Felt good in practice, so i'm happy it showed on the court, as well."