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The Roar

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Federer survives Italian scare

21st January, 2015
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Who stung Roger Federer? Certainly Italian Simone Bolelli, who won the first set against the world No.2 before Federer rebounded to move into the Australian Open third round for the 16th straight year on Wednesday.

But his 3-6 6-3 6-2 6-2 win was thrown quickly into the shade by the mystery of Federer’s finger.

Feeling pain in the little finger of his right hand, Federer had to call for a trainer to work out how to treat his bizarre injury.

The physio was as stumped as the 17-time grand slam winner about what to do.

It seems a classic whodunnit – or perhaps a whostungit – which Federer can’t quite put his numb and swollen finger on.

“It felt like a bee stung me, but I was like `this can’t be possible’,” he said.

“I’ve never had this pain before.

“I don’t know if it’s a blister. I don’t know what that thing is.

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“It’s the weirdest thing … the funniest feeling.”

A rogue bee on Rod Laver Arena remains the leading culprit, with Federer only able to confirm the symptoms.

“It is definitely swollen and it’s funny. I don’t know what it is. As long as it’s not getting bad, it’s okay.”

Federer might have been slow out of the gates, but rallied to make the last 32.

Federer joins Andy Murray, Tomas Berdych and Grigor Dimitrov in the third round after a day of few surprises for the men at Melbourne Park.

The Swiss champion walked the finest line of the title contenders after being outgunned in the first set.

Italy’s world No.48 produced an inspired serving performance early, denying Federer even a break point until midway through the second set.

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At the ninth time of asking, Federer finally broke Bolelli with an outrageous defensive backhand that had no right to find the far corner.

From that point on, Federer looked the only winner.

There was no doubt about Murray’s progression as he steamrolled Australian Marinko Matosevic.

The three-time runner-up made short work of the Victorian, winning 6-1 6-3 6-2 in 102 minutes.

Murray crushed Matosevic’s spirit in a 21-minute opening set and made just 12 unforced errors for the match.

The Melbourne local, who made 49 blunders, gave Murray a glowing review on his way through the exit door.

“He can go all the way for sure,” Matosevic said.

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“I played him at Queen’s (in 2013) and he won Queen’s and went on to win Wimbledon, but today was pretty impressive.

“I know he’s got a really tough passage – Federer, Nadal on this side (of the draw).

“But I think he can do it. He can win it.”

Berdych too was largely untroubled in his straight-sets defeat of Austrian Jurgen Melzer.

His 7-6 (7-0) 6-2 6-2 victory set up a meeting with in-form Viktor Troicki in the third round.

Troicki, the Sydney International winner, defeated his seventh straight opponent ranked inside the world’s top 70 with a 6-4 4-6 6-4 6-0 victory over 26th seed Leonardo Mayer.

Dimitrov won through with a 6-3 6-7 (10-12) 6-3 6-3 win over Lukas Lacko.

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