Olympics Results: Federer Beats Falla in Three Sets

It took 2012 Wimbledon Champion and World No. 1 Roger Federer three sets to prevail in his opening match at the Olympic Games, but he pulled out a 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 win over his grass nemesis Alejandro Falla.

After taking the first set in a routine fashion, Federer had match points on Falla’s serve in the second set, but failed to convert them, and got broken twice to lose the set. The two traded breaks in the third set, but Federer eventually defeated the man who nearly knocked him out in the first round at Wimbledon in 2010.

“It was up and down, a rollercoaster match like it was a few years ago,” Federer said. “But things were looking great today. I had all the match points I wanted, I served for the match. He got tough and I got nervous. It was a tough set to lose for me.”

“That’s the beauty of this game. Sometimes you’re one point away, the next thing you’re 25 points away. That made things difficult in my mind. But I never stopped believing, kept on pushing. He got a break back in the third set, that obviously set my nerves going because the margins are very small at that point. I’m happy I found a way to tough it out.”

Serena Williams, also fresh off a Wimbledon title, won easily over former World No. 1 Jelena Jankovic, 6-3, 6-1.

Caroline Wozniacki overcame local favorite Anne Keothavong in three sets. Kim Clijsters, Petra Kvitova, Vera Zvonareva, Ana Ivanovic, Francesca Schiavone, Flavia Pennetta, Elena Baltacha, and Yanina Wickmayer also advanced.

Carla Suarez Navarro upset Aussie Sam Stosur, while Daniela Hantuchova beat China’s Na Li.

On the men’s side, World No. 6 Tomas Berdych fell to Belgian Steve Darcis, ranked World No. 75, in a shocking upset, losing in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4.

Janko Tipsarevic defeated David Nalbandian to advance to the second round. Julien Benneteau, Gilles Muller, Denis Istomin, John Isner, Malek Jaziri, Philipp Petzschner, Gilles Simon, Grigor Dimitrov, Andreas Seppi, Juan Martin del Potro, Santiago Giraldo, Alex Bogomolov Jr., and Nicolas Almagro also advanced.