London: Roger Federer began his campaign for an eighth Wimbledon title with a confident 6-1, 6-1, 6-3 win over Italy’s Paolo Lorenzi on Tuesday.
The fourth-seeded, 17-time major winner goes on to face either Luxembourg qualifier Gilles Muller or Julien Benneteau of France for a place in the last 32.
Defeat for Lorenzi meant the 32-year-old has still to win a match at a Grand Slam in 11 years and his record at the majors of no wins and 13 losses is the second worst in history.
Federer came into the tournament buoyed by a seventh Halle grass court crown last week, but lost to Ukraine’s Sergiy Stakhovksy in the second round 12 months ago. That was his earliest defeat at the tournament since 2002.
The Swiss took victory on a sixth match point having fired nine aces and 36 winners.
“I thought I played very well, served well, played the transition game, came to the net,” Federer said.
“You want to be eager to play, motivated, not wanting to underestimate anybody and win the tournament and that’s why I’m here.”
Earlier, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga needed just four points and two minutes to advance and Stan Wawrinka swept through in straight sets.
Tsonga, the 14th-seeded Frenchman, had been set to serve for the match at 5-4 in the fifth set against Austria’s Jurgen Melzer when rain forced a suspension of the first-round match Monday.
Tsonga, a two-time semifinalist at Wimbledon, came back out onto Court 1 on Tuesday afternoon and barely broke a sweat. He held serve at love and finished with his 20th ace to complete a 6-1, 3-6, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory.
Tsonga spent more time signing autographs after the match than he did on court Tuesday against Melzer.
“It was tough yesterday,” Tsonga said. “Today I just came for one game, but I’m happy to go through.”
Australian Open champion Wawrinka, meanwhile, served 18 aces and cruised to a 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 win over Joao Sousa of Portugal.
The fifth-seeded Swiss player was coming off a first-round loss at the French Open in his first Grand Slam since winning his first major at Melbourne in January. It was also Wawrinka’s first win since 2011 at the All England Club, where he had lost in the opening round the past two years.
