There won’t be many of these left, easy wins like this one. Roger Federer took down Frenchman Maxime Teixeira, a 22 year old making his Grand Slam and Roland Garros debut. The first set did have a few obstacles, but eventually Federer took over the match with style and ease, winning is straight sets 6-3, 6-0, 6-2. Two matches gone, Federer has yet to drop a set.

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I remember talking to some people about Federer’s opening match versus Feliciano Lopez, a very tough draw for a first round. Anytime you draw a Spaniard on clay is tough. A player ranked 37th in the world for the fading Federer? An upset wouldn’t have been a shocker. Still, Federer played very well and took him in straight sets. Facing the wild card today he looked relaxed, confident, his old self.

The serves looked good, the slices and drop shots were beautiful. Teixeira did enjoy the crowd backing him in the start and seemed to learn from Federer as the game progressed. The moment Federer broke him in the first set, the game was over. Teixeira was way out of his league, and it was fun watching Federer playing with a cloud of doom over his head. This isn’t Djokovic and certainly not Nadal. Federer won’t be able to handle a player so easily the next round and the one after that. He got an easy draw for the second round, but he’s not that good of a player anymore. If an opponent seizes the chance Federer always gives once or twice a match, when he lets his guard down and begins with a series of unforced errors and (in the past) uncharacteristic shots, you don’t have to be a world number one or Grand Slam winner to beat him.

 

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For now, it’s just great to have Roger cruise through games like these. Unlike Nadal, Federer doesn’t want to draw these matches. You never bet against Nadal in a long match. You can against Federer, and to see him play aggressively but with that Federer-class on clay is always brilliant. He needs a comfortable opponent for that, and luckily he had one today. Lets just hope we can see a bit more from him like in the win over Teixeira before he gets knocked out.