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World No.2 Roger Federer will look to continue his pursuit of a 20th grand slam title at the Australian Open when he takes on German journeyman Jan-Lennard Struff in the second round. Join The Roar for live scores from around 8:30pm (AEDT).
After his stunning 2017, it was hardly a surprise to see possibly the greatest player of all time start his 2018 off so strongly at the Hopman Cup.
He won all three of his preliminary matches in straight sets before defeating world No.4 Alexander Zverev in a three-set finale, taking 10 of the final 12 games.
After a week on the practice courts, he followed a similar level of form over to his first-round match at the Australian Open against Alijaz Bedene.
His opponent was wiped off the court by Federer in a straight sets domination, the 19-time grand slam winner taking the match to the tune of 6-3, 6-4, 6-3.
Even though Bedene was never expected to be a match for Federer, it was still a positive for Federer to see his fitness and conditioning so good after a week off court.
Struff, now 27 years of age is sitting just outside the top 50 and while he has pulled off some wins seeing him into five separate ATP semi-finals, he has never won a tournament outside of challenger events and has never made it past the second round of a grand slam.
It puts him firmly in the journeyman category and if he were to pull off a win here, it would easily be the biggest of his career.
For that to happen though, the German would need to be in top form. Unfortunately, he is in anything but after starting his 2018 season with a second-round exit in Doha and first-round in Sydney.
Interestingly, he did send Tomas Berdych packing from Doha in a major upset which clarifies he can survive a lot of power – hardly a surprise when his favourite surface is clay – but getting the better of Federer over five sets is a huge step up.
The pair have faced off once previously, on grass in Halle during 2016. Unsurprisingly, Federer won that match in straight sets.
The winner will move into the third round and set up a battle with either 29th seed Richard Gasquet or the man who knocked Bernard Tomic out, Italian qualifier Lorenzo Sonego.
Prediction
Federer should cruise through here. He was never under pressure in his first match of the Open and carrying form from the Hopman Cup, it’d be a suprirse if the German can get this match to last two hours.
Federer in straight sets.
Be sure to join The Roar for live scores of this second-round match from around 8:30pm (AEDT) or at the completion of Ashleigh Barty versus Camilla Giorgi on Rod Laver Arena and don’t forget to add a comment below.