MONACO, 13 April 2005 — World No. 1 Roger Federer racked up his 23rd successive win of 2005 as he opened up his clay court season with a 6-3, 6-1 demolition of Britain’s Greg Rusedski in the first round of the Monte Carlo Masters yesterday.
Second seeded Russian Marat Safin, still the only man to beat Federer this year, also comfortably reached the second round but former double champion Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil, third-seeded Briton Tim Henman and fifth seeded Spaniard Carlos Moya were all knocked out.
The 23-year-old Federer, with five titles to his name already this season, took his record for the year to 32-1 and made Rusedski pay a heavy price for having the audacity to sneak 3-1 ahead in the first set.
The Swiss reeled off nine games in a row on his way to taking the match after just 62 minutes when a dispirited Rusedski double-faulted.
Australian Open champion Safin eased past South Korea’s Lee Hyung-Taik 6-0, 7-5 while triple French Open winner Kuerten, the champion in 1999 and 2001, lost 7-5, 6-2 to Mario Ancic, the Croatian 13th seed.
Henman, a surprise French Open semi-finalist in 2004, lost 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 to Argentina’s Mariano Zabaleta while another former French Open champion Carlos Moya, the 1998 winner here, was beaten by Argentina’s Mariano Puerta 7-6 (12-10), 1-6, 6-3.
Henman, a semifinalist here in 2003 and a quarterfinalist in 2004, trailed Zabaleta 6-4, 2-1 overnight on Monday when play was halted because of the rain.
