Federer cruises while Sloane crashes
Roger Federer began his quest for a ninth Wimbledon title with a familiar flourish as he crushed Dusan Lajovic 6-1 6-3 6-4 in glorious Centre Court sunshine on Monday.
Federer began in stunning fashion — dashing off the first set in 20 minutes — and never looked troubled as he sauntered into the second round.
Lajovic shook off his early nerves to at least give Federer some practice in the second and third sets but the Serb could do no better than 2017 when he also suffered a straight-sets defeat by the Swiss, that time in the second round.
Federer, contesting his 20th consecutive Wimbledon, is bidding to become only the second player to win nine singles titles on the London lawns after Martina Navratilova.
Runner-up in 2017 Marin Cilic served 21 aces as he made a solid start with a clinical 6-1 6-4 6-4 victory over Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka.
Croatian Cilic, who lost the 2017 final to Federer, underlined his credentials for another Grand Slam title bid to add to his US Open triumph in 2014.
The third seed, who won the Queen’s championship eight days ago, has been pleased with his preparations on grass.
“It’s slightly different than all the other surfaces as the ball skids through the court a bit quicker and you can slide the ball around a little bit easier than on hard courts,” Cilic said.
“Here you also play the opponent on the other side so you have to play the mind game, where to serve, what kind of serve to serve.”
Serena Williams kicked off her bid for an eighth title with a hard-fought 7-5 6-3 victory over Holland’s Arantxa Rus.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion has now won her last 15 singles matches at Wimbledon after clinching the title in 2015 and 2016.
US Open champion Sloane Stephens tumbled out on Monday, looking rusty and out of sorts in her 6-1 6-3 defeat by Croatia’s Donna Vekic.
The 25-year-old fourth seed, who played no grass court warm-up tournaments after reaching the final of the French Open on clay, looked uncomfortable on the fast surface, moving awkwardly and failing to find the lines.
Vekic looked more aggressive, serving powerfully and forcing her opponent into errors. After breaking serve twice, the Croatian needed only one set point and 25 minutes to wrap up the first set.
Stephens showed some steel at the start of the second set, winning the first two games to love with some powerful serveand-volley tennis, but she could not keep the rhythm going.
Vekic won the next three games, moving along the baseline and punishing lessthan-pinpoint serves with bullet-like returns.