Big names get easy ride

Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic both needed to work only half shifts as each of their opponents retired injured in the first round at Wimbledon.

Federer, seeking an eighth title at the All England club, advanced 6-3, 3-0 when Alexandr Dolgopolov quit with a foot injury. The incident was the fifth retirement on the men’s side in less than two days.

The quick victory also produced the 10,000th ace of the Swiss icon’s career.

Federer’s 85th Wimbledon win gave him sole ownership of first place on the match-list wins list for the event, ahead of Jimmy Connors.

Little more than an hour later, three-time champion Djokovic, seeded second, advanced as Slovak Martin Klizan could not go on trailing 6-3, 2-0 with a leg problem. The retirement was the second in less than a week for Klizan.

Sixth seed Milos Raonic beat German Jan-Lennard Struff 7-6 (7-5), 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) as the Canadian tries to beat an injury jinx which has plagued much of his career. Eighth seed Dominic Thiem defeated Canadian Vasek Pospisil 6-4, 6-4, 6-3.

German 10th seed Alexander Zverev began with a defeat of Evgeny Donskoy 6-4, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3. Gael Monfils, the 15th seed, reached the second round over Daniel Brands 6-3, 7-5, 6-4.

Former top 10 player Juan Martin del Potro needed seven match points to finally subdue Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4. The Argentine won a 10-minute final game, landing a forehand winner down the line. Del Potro next faces Ernests Gulbis, a winner over Victor Estrella Burgos 6-1, 6-1, 6-2.

Spanish veteran David Ferrer shocked two-time semifinalist Richard Gasquet 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 6-2.

In the women’s draw, German top seed Angelique Kerber began her campaign with a 6-4, 6-4 win over qualifier Irina Falconi.

Kerber, 29, starts at the All England club as No. 1 and will likely have to up her performances to retain her position after indifferent form.

A break in the opening game helped her reach 3-0 in the first set against the 247th-ranked Falconi.

A tighter second set also went Kerber’s way when Falconi double faulted in the ninth game and the German promptly saw out the match.

Kerber finished runner-up a year ago to Serena Williams, and with Williams not competing while pregnant, it fell to the German to stand-in for the women’s champion in the first centre court match of the second day.

Eastbourne champion Karolina Pliskova began with a win over Evgeniya Rodina 6-1, 6-1. Ninth seed Agnieszka Radwanska advanced 7-6 (7-3), 6-0 over former No 1 Jelena Jankovic, while Spain’s Garbine Muguruza beat Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-2, 6-4. Australian qualifier Arina Rodionova knocked out 16th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 3-6, 7-6 (8-6), 9-7.