Federer crushes his old pal for the 16th time

Roger Federer crushed an old pal for the 16th successive time as he made an encouraging high-speed restart to the ATP World Tour after his Australian Open debacle.

The Grand Slam record-holder's lively 6-3, 6-1 win over Mikhail Youzhny, a regular sparring partner, in the first round of the Dubai Open helped him begin to rebuild after a dispiriting third round loss in Melbourne.

The Swiss legend did this consistently well, serving forcefully, striking the ball with surprisingly good rhythm in a stiff breeze, and shortening the rallies by coming to the net successfully on plenty of occasions.

"He's beaten me a lot in practice," Federer said when asked how he managed to be so ruthless against someone he had been playing since the turn of the century and to whom he had never lost.

"For some reason he has not done so in a match," he added. "You can't feel sorry. You have to make your best effort."

                                                                                                                                                            AFP