Federer Edges Old Nemesis Falla; Berdych Upset

By Chris Oddo

(July 28, 2012)--Roger Federer was forced to dig a lot deeper than he probably would have liked in his Olympic opener today, but in the end his 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 victory over Alejandro Falla of Columbia was no less sweet.

Serving for the match at 5-4 in the second set, Federer faltered against the pesky southpaw (squandering multiple match point sin the process), and what appeared to be a breezy victory for Federer was suddenly on its way to becoming a three-set barnburner.

When the top seed's inside-out forehand on break point was ruled out by a Falla challenge, the Colombian had the break of serve he needed to level the second set at 5-5.

Falla then proceeded to take the next two games, breaking Federer for a second consecutive time force a third set.

Federer, who is aiming to become the first player in tennis history to have won all four Grand Slams plus a gold medal in Olympic singles and doubles, started the third set like a man on a mission.

He broke Falla in the first game then consolidated for a 2-0 lead, but Falla continued to pressure Federer, much to the delight of the vocal, slightly shocked crowd.

After holding serve, the World No. 51, who now has lost all six of his matches against Federer, capitalized on his only break point to level the decider at 2-all.

But the seven-time Wimbledon and seventeen-time Grand Slam champion would regain control again when he broke to lead 4-3, his massive forehand on break point overpowering Falla, who could only flick a backhand into the bottom of the net in reply.

After a tense game that saw the World No. 1 hold as he let out a passionate scream, Federer then pulled out his bag of tricks in the ensuing game to win two frantic, improvisational points to take a 30-0 lead while the Colombian served to stay alive in the match.

One point later, Federer would see triple-match point.

Falla saved one, after a Federer error, but after connecting on the next the top seed was through after an hour and forty-seven minutes of struggle.

Federer advances to face Julien Benneteau in round two. Benneteau pushed Federer to five sets less than a month ago at Wimbledon, breaking out to a two sets to love lead only to see Federer defeat him in five sets en route to his seventh Wimbledon title.

Berdych Rocked by Darcis

Sixth-seeded Tomas Berdych's return to wimbledon after an early first-round exit at this year's Championships was equally disappointing.

The former Wimbledon finalist and highest-ranked Czech player bowed out to World No. 75 Steve Darcis today 6-4, 6-4. Darcis hit 27 winners against only 8 unforced errors on the afternoon, breaking Berdych on the only opportunity he saw to stake himself to a 5-4 lead in the first set.

In a 55-minute second set, the Belgian held his nerve after storming out to a 5-2 lead, saving two break points in the final game that would have allowed Berdych to level the set.

Bryan Brothers Outlast Sa and Bellucci in Three Set

The top-seeded Bryan Brothers had a tough challenge with the Brazilian Duo of Andre Sa and Thomaz Bellucci, but the Americans saved all four break points they faced in their 7-6(5), 6-7(5), 6-3 victory to gain admittance into the second round.

The Bryans, who hold the record for most doubles titles all-time, are questing to complete the Golden Slam at the 2012 Games. They completed their career Grand Slam (winning all four majors) when they won Wimbledon for the first time in 2006, but they were taken out by the Swiss pairing of Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka in the 2008 Olympic semifinals in their second attempt to add an Olympic gold to their legendary list of achievements.

In their first attempt, the Bryans lost to eventual champions Fernando Gonzales and Nicolas Massu in the quarterfinals of the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.

The Murray brothers--Andy and Jamie--fell short in their first round doubles match, losing to Jurgen Melzer and Alexander Peya 5-7, 7-5, 7-5, while David Ferrer and Feliciano Lopez upset the fourth-seeded team of Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski of Poland 7-6(7), 6-7(6), 8-6

Isner Advances in Singles, Will play Jaziri in Round Two

John Isner hammered 24 aces and saved the only break point he faced in a 7-6, 6-4 first-round victory over Olivier Rochus of Belgium. Isner will face Malik Jaziri of Tunisia in round two.

Ryan Harrison wasn't so lucky. The 20-year-old American was defeated by Santiago Giraldo of Columbia in straight sets. Harrison only managed one break point on the afternoon, and won only 11 out of 52 points against the Giraldo serve.

Donald Young also dropped a straight-setter, 6-4,. 6-4 at the hands of Italian Andreas Seppi.

(Photo Credit: AP)