Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka lined up a Swiss victory double on Tuesday at the Wimbledon Championships with the pair of top five seeds advancing to the second round in spectacular style.
Fourth seed Federer, bidding for the 18th Grand Slam title of his career, crushed Italian Paolo Lorenzi 6-1, 6-1, 6-3, with nine aces and 40 winners and half as many unforced errors.
“It was a solid match overall. I served well, returned well, also tried to come forward a bit,” said Federer. “I could really do everything out there, so I’m very pleased with the first round.” Australian Open champion Wawrinka, seeded fifth, was untroubled by Portugal’s Joao Sousa 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 as the Swiss won his first match at Wimbledon since 2011 after back-to-back first round defeats on the lawns.
“I’m really happy, today was a good match,” said the 29-year-old, who is ranked third in the world.
“It’s never easy a first round in a Grand Slam. But I was quite focused, serving well, and confident with my game. I’ve been practising well since two weeks now, since before Queen’s, so it’s a perfect start.”
Second seed Rafael Nadal, who had not won a match at the event since the 2012 first round, struggled to find his game but overcame Slovak Martin Klizan 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.
“It was a positive match for me. I won and that’s the most important thing. I’ve not played on grass for a while. It’s like a new start,” said the Spaniard.
“I’m happy for the victory. The match was difficult and more so after I lost the first set. I was able to fight and find some solutions. I can play better than I did today.” Canadian eighth seed Milos Raonic beat Matthew Ebden of Australia to advance with 30 aces, winning 6-2, 6-4, 6-4. Japan’s 10th seed Kei Nishikori began his campaign with a victory over Kenny De Schepper, beating the Frenchman 6-4, 7-6 (5), 7-5.
French 14th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga fired off four straight points to finish off a rain-hit win over Austrian Juergen Melzer 6-1, 3-6, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4.
Women's Singles
In the women’s draw, five-time winner Serena Williams beat Anna Tatishvili 6-1, 6-2 to start her fortnight while fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska beat Andreea Mitu 6-2, 6-1.
French Open champion Maria Sharapova, seeded fifth, defeated Brit Samantha Murray with the loss of just one game while German ninth seed Angelique Kerber defeated Urszula Radwanska 6-2, 6-4.
Canadian 13th seed Eugenie Bouchard, semi-finalist at both of the majors played so far this season, beat veteran Daniela Hantuchova 7-5, 7-5.
In other action, Italian 14th seed Sara Errani was eliminated 2-6, 7-6 (7-3), 7-5 by Caroline Garcia; and 16th seed Caroline Wozniacki stopped Shahar Peer 6-3, 6-0.