Federer wins Aussie opener handily

MELBOURNE, Australia – Top-ranked Roger Federer dispatched wild card entry Denis Istomin in the first round of the Australian Open today, cruising to a 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 victory.

Federer was broken once, when he was serving for the second set, and faced only three break points in the 83-minute match.

The overwhelming favorite for the title, Federer lost only one point on his serve in the second set until he made three uncharacteristically erratic errors to give Istomin the break in the second-to-last game.

Federer drew a near-capacity crowd to Rod Laver Arena for the first match of the day. While the crowd was cheering for Istomin to mount a comeback and extend the match, Federer finished it off with a service winner.

“It’s never really easy, first round in a Grand Slam,” said Federer, who met Istomin for the first time in the locker room before the match. “As long as I win, I’m happy – it was a good start.”

Istomin, 19, from Uzbekistan, is ranked 195th and playing in his first top-tier event.

He twice aced Federer in his opening service game and in the sixth game of the second set. He had eight aces overall, against only two for Federer.

“I played good today, but had too many unforced errors,” said Istomin, who had 39 unforced errors. “It was very good for my career … he gave me seven games.”

Former No. 2-ranked Tommy Haas, who upset Federer in the Kooyong exhibition last week, had a 6-2, 7-5, 6-2 win over 14th-seeded Richard Gasquet. Gasquet was one of only four players to beat Federer in 2005.

French women Mary Pierce and Amelie Mauresmo advanced in contrasting fashion.

Fifth-seeded Pierce, the 1995 Australian champion and a finalist at the French and U.S. Opens last season, breezed past local wild-card entry Nicole Pratt 6-1, 6-1 in 52 minutes.

Mauresmo, winner of the season-ending WTA Championship in November, struggled at times in a 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 win over China’s Sun Tiantian, a doubles gold medalist at the Athens Olympics.

A longtime contender, Mauresmo’s best showing at a Grand Slam event was her runner-up finish here in 1999.

She was broken three times in the two-hour match and converted only six of her 15 breakpoint chances, starting 0-6 until she got her breakthrough in the second set.

Seventh-seeded Patty Schnyder beat Eleni Daniilidou of Greece 6-4, 6-3 and No. 12 Anastasia Myskina, the 2004 French Open champion, beat Ukraine’s Yuliana Fedak 7-6 (6), 6-1.

Federer finished 81-4 in 2005, winning 11 titles including Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.

The 24-year-old Swiss star lost to the eventual champions at the Australian and French, but neither is in the draw at Melbourne Park.

Marat Safin didn’t return to defend his title here because of a chronic knee problem and second-ranked Rafael Nadal, the French Open champion, is out with an injured foot.