Love wasn't in the air. In his first match since winning his 20th Grand Slam singles title, Roger Federer was at once ruthless, efficient and brilliant against Ruben Bemelmans, who could only keep the Australian Open champion on court for 46 minutes in Rotterdam. Considering the match's duration, it's something of a surprise that Bemelmans managed to avoid losing a love set—he was trounced 6-1, 6-2.
With two more victories, Federer will supplant Rafael Nadal for the No. 1 position in the ATP rankings. And the draw at the ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament couldn't be kinder to his cause. Federer's next opponent, Philipp Kohlschreiber, is 0-12 against him. Should Federer beat him for the 13th straight time, he'll face either Robin Haase (Federer is 2-0 against the Dutchman) or wild card Tallon Griekspoor—who shocked Stan Wawrinka in the opening round.
You might not think that a 46-minute match has anything worthy of a highlight, but then again, this is Federer we're talking about: