Four-time champion Roger Federer won his first Grand Slam match under new coach Stefan Edberg with a straight-sets victory in intense heat at the Australian Open on Tuesday.
The Swiss sixth seed cruised past Australian wildcard James Duckworth 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 in one hour 46 minutes on Rod Laver Arena.
The record 17-time Grand Slam title winner teamed up with former world No 1 and six-time major champion Edberg last month.
Federer coped well with heatwave temperatures hovering around 40 Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) to set up a second-round match against Slovenia’s Blaz Kavcic, who moved on after Czech Radek Stepanek was forced to retire.
The Swiss great broke Duckworth’s service four times and only faced one break point in his 14 service games. He hit 30 winners with 17 unforced errors to ease through to the next round.
“It’s great fun to be playing in front of him (Edberg) and it’s been a dream come true for me,” Federer said.
“I used to watch his matches and get inspired to play this great game so to have him in my corner through the year and this tournament is very special and I can’t be thankful enough.”
Federer said the heat made for quick conditions on court and that he had difficulty finding his rhythm and getting into rallies.
“I’m feeling okay, it’s not crazy so I’m happy with how I am feeling this way right now,” Federer said of coping with the extreme heat.
Federer is bidding to become only the second man after Australia’s Roy Emerson to win five Australian Opens. He has never lost in the first round in 15 appearances.
He came into the major tournament having lost to old Australian rival Lleyton Hewitt in the final of the Brisbane International over a week ago.
Japan’s Kei Nishikori was taken to five gruelling sets in his first round match.
The 16th seed was on court for three hours 41 minutes before subduing Australian Marinko Matosevic 6-3, 5-7, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 to reach the second round.
With new coach Michael Chang watching in the stands, Nishikori finished the better in the 40 Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) heat to fight off the 54th-ranked Matosevic.
Nishikori, who beat Tomas Berdych in the final of the exhibition Kooyong Classic in Melbourne last weekend, will play Serbian qualifier Dusan Lajovic in the next round.
The 10th-seeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga had little trouble with Italy’s Filippo Volandri, winning in straight sets 7-5, 6-3, 6-3. He’s set to play either German Julian Reister or Brazilian qualifier Thomaz Bellucci in the second round. Canadian No 11 Milos Raonic also eased past Spaniard Daniel Gimeno-Traver in four sets.
No 22 seed Grigor Dimitrov beat Bradley Klahn 6-7 (7/9), 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 to face the winner of the first round’s all-Taiwanese match, Lu Yen-hsun.
John Isner, the 13th-seeded American, retired with a foot injury and 21st seed Philipp Kohlschreiber withdrew on Tuesday, as well.
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
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Launch year: 2018
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
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CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
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UAE WARRIORS RESULTS
Featherweight
Azouz Anwar (EGY) beat Marcelo Pontes (BRA)
TKO round 2
Catchweight 90kg
Moustafa Rashid Nada (KSA) beat Imad Al Howayeck (LEB)
Split points decision
Welterweight
Gimbat Ismailov (RUS) beat Mohammed Al Khatib (JOR)
TKO round 1
Flyweight (women)
Lucie Bertaud (FRA) beat Kelig Pinson (BEL)
Unanimous points decision
Lightweight
Alexandru Chitoran (ROU) beat Regelo Enumerables Jr (PHI)
TKO round 1
Catchweight 100kg
Marc Vleiger (NED) beat Mohamed Ali (EGY)
Rear neck choke round 1
Featherweight
James Bishop (NZ) beat Mark Valerio (PHI)
TKO round 2
Welterweight
Abdelghani Saber (EGY) beat Gerson Carvalho (BRA)
TKO round 1
Middleweight
Bakhtiyar Abbasov (AZE) beat Igor Litoshik (BLR)
Unanimous points decision
Bantamweight
Fabio Mello (BRA) beat Mark Alcoba (PHI)
Unanimous points decision
Welterweight
Ahmed Labban (LEB) v Magomedsultan Magomedsultanov (RUS)
TKO round 1
Bantamweight
Trent Girdham (AUS) beat Jayson Margallo (PHI)
TKO round 3
Lightweight
Usman Nurmagomedov (RUS) beat Roman Golovinov (UKR)
TKO round 1
Middleweight
Tarek Suleiman (SYR) beat Steve Kennedy (AUS)
Submission round 2
Lightweight
Dan Moret (USA) v Anton Kuivanen (FIN)
TKO round 2
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Director: Jared Hess
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Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
