Free Wimbledon passes for Federer and Djokovic
ROGER Federer and Novak Djokovic barely had to break sweat to make winning starts at Wimbledon as their injuryhit opponents retired hurt from their first-round matches yesterday.
Federer is chasing a record eighth Wimbledon title and was already on top at the start of his 19th All England Club campaign when Alexandr Dolgopolov was forced to quit with an ankle injury.
The world No 3 raced into a 6-3 3-0 in 43 minutes on Centre Court before the Ukrainian limped off.
Federer, who hit his 10 000th career ace in the eighth game of the first set, will face either Dusan Lajovic, of Serbia, or Greek qualifier Stefanos Tsitsipas for a place in the last 32.
“It feels great to be back on Centre Court,” Federer said after recording his 85th match win at Wimbledon, passing the mark he shared with Jimmy Connors.
Having unexpectedly won the Australian Open in January before taking the clay-court season off to rest, Federer is the favourite to take the Wimbledon crown for the first time since 2012.
“Everybody’s got a chance to win Wimbledon and for me it’s no different. I already achieved my dream to be back here healthy. Now we’ll see how far I can go,” Federer said.
Djokovic, a three-time Wimbledon champion, was leading 6-3 2-0 when Slovakian world No 47 Martin Klizan retired after just 40 minutes on Centre Court due to a calf problem.
The 30-year-old Serb will face Adam Pavlasek, of the Czech Republic, for a place in the last 32.
It was the kind of trouble-free first round Djokovic would have been hoping for after the most turbulent period of his career, with the 12-time major winner losing in the Australian Open second round and the French Open quarterfinals.
“It was great to be back on Centre Court, but you never like to end a match this way,” Djokovic said.
With defending champion Serena Williams sidelined preparing for childbirth, the race to win the women’s title is the most wide open in a generation.
World No 1 Angelique Kerber, last year’s Australian and US Open winner, is among the favourites after losing last year’s Wimbledon final to Serena.
The German showed glimpses of her best form as she saw off American qualifier Irina Falconi 6-4 6-4 in 87 minutes on Centre Court yesterday.