After a tough first-round loss to Mario Ancic at Wimbledon 2002, former quarter-finalist Roger Federer was ready to shine again in the cathedral of tennis. The Swiss picked up two wins in straight sets to start the 2003 campaign well.
Federer won the first set in 24 minutes against Hyung-Taik Lee and struggled a bit in the third, but he still managed to advance to the second round against his friend Stefan Koubek on Center Court.
The Austrian fought bravely in the first set against the youngster, taking a 5-2 lead before Federer took advantage of a rain delay to get his game back on track. Upon their return, the Swiss was the only player on the court, taking 17 of the last 19 games to overcome his opponent 7-5, 6-1, 6-1 in 77 minutes.
Roger Federer defeated Stefan Koubek in straight sets at Wimbledon 2003.
Roger served well, scoring 22 points in 13 service games and moving well above Stefan once he found his A game to claim victory in short order in sets two and three.
Koubek got off to a great start, opening a 5-2 lead with just one break before Federer recovered, fending off a set point and taking five games in a row to win the set. Roger gathered huge momentum and charged towards the finish line with a reliable performance in sets two and three.
Federer fell twice on the slippery surface and explained that it doesn’t help when you’re thinking about tricky moves on the grass all the time and you have to put that behind you and keep playing.
“The grass is quite slippery and you have to be careful; I felt it twice and I could have hurt myself. It doesn’t help if you’re always thinking about falling; it affects your movements. Often you don’t know why you slipped, which worries you a bit.
It is important to forget about this and move on. I can always improve my serve and volley game, but it worked well today, as did my return in the first practice here. My next opponent has a powerful serve and we’ll see what happens.
I’m not thinking about the match against Mardy yet. I know he is a dangerous opponent; he likes to play on fast surfaces and has a solid all-around game. I have to be careful and prepare myself as well as possible for this,” said Roger Federer.
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