Swiss show Federer he's the cream
Roger Federer was presented with a cow yesterday as the organisers of the Swiss Open came up with a bizarre way to commemorate his success at Wimbledon.
The presentation took place in front of a crowd of 6,000 at the Roy Emerson Arena in Gstaad before Federer's first-round match against Spanish qualifier Marc Lopez.
Federer, the first Swiss male winner of a Grand Slam, said: 'It was a great idea, very funny. 'It is unbelievable to be in my home country to celebrate winning Wimbledon in this way.' Tournament spokesperson Stefan Negalle insisted Federer intended to use the cow named Juliette 'for milk or cheese' rather than prime sirloin.
The 21-year-old from Basel was forced to fight hard for victory on Gstaad's clay courts just two days after seeing off Australian Mark Philippoussis in straight sets to take the Wimbledon crown.
Top-seed Federer claimed the opening set 6-3 only for Lopez, who had to come through two games to reach the first round, to level things up by winning the second-set tiebreak 7-4.
Federer, who has moved up to third in the world rankings, then secured a vital break when 4-3 up in the final set before serving out to secure a place in the second round where he will face Frenchman Jean-Rene Lisnard.
Spanish teenager Rafael Nadal made an impressive start to the Swedish Open in Bastad by knocking out third seed - and last year's beaten finalist - Younes El Aynaoui 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. Nadal, who turned 17 last month, plays fellow Spaniard Albert Portas in the second round.
Portas disposed of Rogier Wassen, a qualifier from Holland, 6-4, 6-4. Sweden's Robin Soderling, another talented teenager who reached the third round at Wimbledon before losing to Tim Henman, also progressed after beating Austrian qualifier Markus Hipfl 7-5, 6-1. Soderling now faces defending champion and top seed Carlos Moya.
The Spaniard needed three sets to overcome Slovakia's Dominik Hrbaty 6-2, 6-7, 6-3. Second seed Tommy Robredo, another Spaniard, cruised into the second round with a 6-3, 6-2 demolition of Swedish qualifier Marcus Sarstrand.
