Novi Sad: Returning to Davis Cup tennis, Roger Federer cruised past Ilija Bozoljac to give Switzerland a 1-0 lead over Serbia in their World Group first-round tie on Friday.
Federer won 6-4, 7-5, 6-2 in less than two hours, and faced little challenge from Bozoljac, who served well but still was no match for the Swiss. Bozoljac opened the match with two aces and had a set point while leading 5-2 in the second. But Federer held serve and broke to regain control over the set.
"Ilija was playing well, especially in the second set," Federer said. "It was a tough game, it could have been one set all."
Federer was making his first Davis Cup appearance since 2012. Bozoljac said he was disappointed about his missed chance to win the second set.
"I lost focus and Federer stepped up the game," Bozoljac said. Australian Open champion Stanislas Wawrinka was facing Dusan Lajovic in the second singles match on Friday. Switzerland is an overwhelming favorite against Serbia, last year's finalist and the 2010 Davis Cup champion, which is playing without Novak Djokovic and two other top players.
The second-ranked Djokovic decided to rest after losing to Wawrinka in the Australian Open quarterfinals, while Janko Tipsarevic is nursing a heel injury and Viktor Troicki is serving a 12-month doping ban for failing to appear at a test. That means Lajovic at No. 102 is Serbia's highest-ranked team member.
The winner plays Belgium or Kazakhstan in the quarterfinals in April.
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