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Roger Federer was blinded by Serena Williams’ ‘aura’ in tennis battle of the GOATs

Switzerland’s 20-time Grand Slam champion played Serena Williams on New Year’s Day for the first time but he reckons facing the American sporting giant put him off his serve

By Rob Maul In Melbourne
16th January 2019, 7:36 am
Updated: 16th January 2019, 7:47 am

ROGER FEDERER admits he was in awe of Serena Williams when they played earlier this month.

The Swiss star, 37, came through a tough assignment against British qualifier Dan Evans to progress into the third round of the Australian Open following a 7-6 7-6 6-3 victory on the Rod Laver Arena.
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Roger Federer and Serena Williams took a selfie during their first ever clash during the Hopman Cup earlier this month

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Federer and Belinda Bencic beat Williams and Frances Tiafoe on their way to defending their title

While being interviewed post-match on-court, he was reminded of the Hopman Cup clash with Serena by TV presenter Jim Courier, the US former world No1.

Federer showed why he is the GOAT as he beat Serena in the Battle of the Sexes Part II.

The tennis superstars, who have won 43 Grand Slam singles titles combined, faced each other for the first time in an indoor mixed doubles event of the Hopman Cup in front of 14,064 people in Perth.

Federer and partner Belinda Bencic won 4-2, 4-3 for Team Switzerland against Americans Williams and Frances Tiafoe.
AP:Associated Press
Federer beat British qualifier Dan Evans in straight sets to progress to the Australian Open third round

The pair even took a selfie together on-court which went viral.

But the 37-year-old admitted: “I was excited to play her but I had a low percentage on my serve against her. It must have been Serena’s aura. No kidding!

“She is a wonderful player. Thankfully we played better and won and I was happy with that.

“It was so much fun. The city, almost all the country, as I was reading in the papers, everyone was talking about it.
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Evans played a fine game and had the Swiss legend worried at times, especially in the first-set tie break

AP:Associated Press
The seven-time champion eventually came through 7-6 7-6 6-3 in 2hr 35min on the Rod Laver Arena

“It was nice for tennis, nice for me, nice for Serena, Frances and Belinda. It was a wonderful atmosphere. I had been looking forward to it ever since the draw was made. Well, I don’t know if they had made it that way, but it was a memorable match.”

The historic tie brought back memories of the famous 1973 ‘Battle of the Sexes’ encounter between Billie-Jean King and former Wimbledon champion Bobby Riggs.

Evans, who only returned last April from a one-year cocaine ban, played one of his best matches of tennis and had chances in the first-set tie-break to cause an upset.

But Federer showed enough class and composure to win in three sets and remain on course for a record seventh Aussie Open crown.

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