MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) - Roger Federer played his first Australian Open match away from Rod Laver Arena in a decade and beat Blaz Kavcic of Slovenia 6-2, 6-1, 7-6 (4) on Thursday to reach the third round at Melbourne Park.
Federer had played 63 matches in a row at Rod Laver Arena until being assigned to the secondary 10,000-seat Hisense Arena for Thursday’s match.
The former No. 1-ranked but now sixth-seeded Federer won the first of four Australian Open titles in 2004 and hasn’t played anywhere except the 15,000-seat center court since then at Melbourne Park.
Federer and Kavcic played under the roof at Hisense after the Extreme Heat Policy was invoked by tournament organizers earlier in the day due to searing temperatures in the city.
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