27 Jun 2009

Federer, Williams win at Wimbledon

7:54 am on 27 June 2009

Roger Federer lost his first set of the tournament but still managed to conjure a comfortable 6-3 6-2 6-7 6-1 victory over Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber at Wimbledon.

The 27th seed was meant to provide a stern test for Federer after disposing of Novak Djokovic at the French Open last month but the gulf in class was immediate as the Swiss maestro opened up a one-set lead in just 37 minutes.

The second was in the bag 30 minutes later but the German rallied from 2-0 down in the third to take it to a tiebreak which he won with a wonderful angled backhand 7-5.

Federer, five times a champion here, snuffed out the rising threat by racing to a 3-0 lead in the fourth and finally booked a fourth-round berth against French Open finalist Robin Soderling of Sweden with a thunderous forehand winner.

Frnch Open runner-up Robin Soderling, who continued his seamless transition to grass with a 7-6 6-4 6-4 win over Spaniard Nicolas Almagro, will be up next for the Swiss.

Serena Williams came prepared for a wet day as she walked out on Court Two wearing her customised white raincoat.

However, the American did not need it as she stormed into the fourth round with a 6-3 6-4 win over Italy's Roberta Vinci.

With Williams dashing past her first three opponents, Daniela Hantuchova could be in for a couple of sleepless nights.

The slender Slovakian earned a date with the second seed thanks to a 6-4 6-3 win over Japan's Ai Sugiyama.

Fourth seed Elena Dementieva, a semi-finalist last year, blew away fellow Russian Regina Kulikova 6-1 6-2.

The big uspet of the day was the departure of ninth seed Jo-Wilfred Tsonga who was was beaten in four tie breaker sets by the big serving Croat Ivo Karlovic.