Federer wins opening round at Rotterdam
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-02-17 09:14

Top-ranked Roger Federer beat Bohdan Ulihrach 6-3, 6-4 Wednesday in the opening round of the ABN Amro tournament.

Swiss Roger Federer acknowledges the crowd following his 6-3, 6-4 victory over Czech Bohdan Ulihrach in the Rotterdam Open. [AFP]

In second-round play, second-seeded Guillermo Coria was beaten 2-6, 7-6 (2), 6-3 by Paradorn Srichaphan, defending champion Juan Carlos Ferrero lost 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-3 to Radek Stephanek, and sixth-seeded Nikolay Davydenko ousted Tomas Berdych 7-6 (8), 6-0.

Federer broke Ulihrach in the second game, and his only hitch was giving up a 40-0 lead in the final game of the first set. But he recovered and broke quickly in the second set for full control.

"I needed to get used to the circumstances of an inside court again, but after that everything went like it should," Federer said at his first appearance since his exit against Marat Safin in the semifinals of the Australian Open (news - web sites).

In other first-round matches, fifth-seeded Joachim Johansson wasted three match points before overcoming Wang Yeu-tzuoo 6-2, 6-7 (2), 6-3, and No. 7 Dominik Hrbaty was eliminated by Ivan Ljubicic 6-4, 1-6, 6-2.

Also, Stanislas Wawrinka beat Sebastien Grosjean 7-6 (5), 6-2, and Sjeng Schalken ousted Andrei Pavel 4-6, 7-5, 6-4.

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