05 July,2017 08:30 AM IST | London | AFP
Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic barely had to break sweat to make winning starts at Wimbledon as their injury-hit opponents retired hurt from their first round matches on Tuesday
Switzerland's Roger Federer
Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic barely had to break sweat to make winning starts at Wimbledon as their injury-hit opponents retired hurt from their first round matches on Tuesday.
Federer is chasing a record eighth Wimbledon title and he was already well 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 to a 6-3, 3-0 win 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.
Roger goes past Jimmy
"It feels great to be back on Centre Court," said Federer, who recorded 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, making a record-equalling 70th Grand Slam appearance, 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, the 12-time major winner losing in the Australian Open second round and the French Open quarter-finals.
Djoko happy with serve
"He had issues walking on to court. I tried to focus on my game plan, I was serving well and when it mattered I made a break," said Djokovic, who is aiming to win a first Grand Slam title since last year's French Open.
