Federer, Agassi Advance At Wimbledon

Wimbledon, England (Sports Network) - Three-time defending champion Roger Federer was an easy opening-round winner at Wimbledon on Tuesday and in the process he set a new record for consecutive wins on grass. French Open champ Rafael Nadal also moved on, and playing in his final Wimbledon, American icon Andre Agassi advanced on Day 2. The top-seeded Federer captured his 42nd straight victory on the surface by dismantling Frenchman Richard Gasquet 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 at the famed All England Club. The great Bjorn Borg held the previous record of 41 straight wins on grass, as his mark stood for 25 years. The five-time Wimbledon champion Borg piled up his streak, all at Wimbledon, from 1976-81, and all 41 wins came in best-of-five-set matches. Twenty of Federer`s wins during his streak came in best-of-three-set encounters in Halle, Germany. The world No. 1 Federer was leading Gasquet 6-3, 1-2 when their bout was halted because of rain here on Monday. The Swiss star promptly came out on Day 2 and won 11-of-13 games. The "Fed" struck 35 winners, compared to only five for Gasquet, and broke his French counterpart`s serve five times while holding his mighty serve throughout. The seven-time Grand Slam titlist Federer is also the reigning U.S. and Australian Open champ. The super Swiss, who beat American Andy Roddick in the last two Wimbledon finales, lost to Nadal in the French Open final earlier this month. Federer will meet British crowd favorite Tim Henman in the second round here on Wednesday, as Henman snuck past big-serving Swede Robin Soderling 6-7 (8-10), 6-3, 6-2, 1-6, 6-3. The second-seeded Nadal captured his fourth-ever win at Wimbledon (4-2) with a 6-4, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 decision against fellow lefthander, Britain`s Alex Bogdanovic. The reigning two-time Roland Garros titlist Nadal, who could be on a collision course to meet Agassi in the third round, will face American Robert Kendrick in the second. A 25th-seeded Agassi, performing in his 14th and final Wimbledon, started slow against Serb Boris Pashanski before finding his footing en route to a 2-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-3 decision on Centre Court. It marked Agassi`s first match here since 2003, and the American was greeted with a rousing standing ovation. Agassi swatted 17 aces at the 23-year-old Pashanski. The 36-year-old Agassi announced this past weekend that he will retire after this year`s U.S. Open. The eight-time major titlist captured his lone Wimbledon championship in 1992 and was the runner-up to the great Pete Sampras here in 1999. The 15-time major finalist Agassi has been plagued by back problems in recent years and has appeared in only four other tournaments this season. The Las Vegas native was last year`s U.S. Op 1/8en runner-up to the amazing Federer. Up next for Agassi will be Italian Andreas Seppi. A third-seeded Roddick was on the Day-2 schedule, but he`ll have to wait until Wednesday to meet Serb Janko Tipsarevic in his opening-rounder. The former world No. 1 and 2003 U.S. Open champion Roddick is seeking his third straight trip to the final at the AEC. Fourth-seeded Argentine David Nalbandian, seventh-seeded Croat Mario Ancic and eighth-seeded American James Blake also moved into the round of 64. The 2002 Wimbledon runner-up Nalbandian whipped South African Wesley Moodie 6-3, 6-4, 6-1, while last week`s Nottingham titlist Ancic erased Spaniard Nicolas Almagro 7-6 (7-2), 7-5, 7-6 (7-4) and Blake got past Denmark`s Kristian Pless 6-3, 7-5, 5-7, 6-4. Nalbandian will meet Frenchman Arnaud Clement on Wednesday, while Blake will oppose Taipei`s Yeu-Tzuoo Wang. Ninth-seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko was tied with Colombian Alejandro Falla 6-2, 6-7 (4-7) when their bout was suspended for the day. Tenth-seeded Chilean Fernando Gonzalez grounded Peru`s Luis Horna 7-6 (7-3), 7-5, 6-2; 11th-seeded Spaniard Tommy Robredo got past German Simon Greul 6-2, 6-2, 5-7, 7-6 (7-3); Jonas Bjorkman upended his 12th-seeded fellow Swede Thomas Johansson 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-1, 6-1; 13th-seeded Tomas Berdych blitzed his fellow Czech Jan Hernych 6-3, 6-4, 7-5; and 14th-seeded Czech Radek Stepanek stopped Canadian Frank Dancevic 7-6 (7-4), 6-3, 6-4. The 2002 Aussie Open champion Johansson was a Wimbledon semifinalist here a year ago. Other seeded winners on Day 2 were No. 19 German Tommy Haas, No. 24 Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero, No. 26 Belgian Olivier Rochus, No. 28 Spaniard Fernando Verdasco and No. 30 Belgian Kristof Vliegen. Other seeded upset victims were No. 20 Slovakian Dominik Hrbaty, No. 21 Frenchman Gael Monfils, No. 29 Thai Paradorn Srichaphan, No. 31 Chilean Nicolas Massu and No. 32 Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu, who was dismissed by 2003 Wimbledon runner-up Mark Philippoussis in four sets. In an intriguing match between non-seeds, two-time Grand Slam champion Marat Safin of Russia rolled past Brit Greg Rusedski 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. Former world No. 1 and 2002 Wimbledon champion Lleyton Hewitt will open his 2006 stay here against Italian Filippo Volandri on Day 3. The fiery Aussie is a two-time major titlist. All 64 men`s first-round matches were on Tuesday`s schedule after rain washed away action here on Day 1. Only 42 were completed on Day 2. (Copyright 2005 by The Sports Network)