Wimbledon 2016 Day 1: Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic march on; Ana Ivanovic ousted

London: Roger Federer was well short of his best as the seven-time Wimbledon champion advanced to the second round with an uninspired 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/3), 6-3 victory over Argentina’s Guido Pella on Monday. Federer has been plagued by injury problems this year and the world number three lacked rhythm and confidence in his opening match at this year’s grass-court Grand Slam. The 34-year-old, without a major title since 2012, will play British qualifier Marcus Willis for a place in the last 32. [caption id=“attachment_2859444” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Roger Federer of Switzerland serves to Guido Pella of Argentina at Wimbledon. AP[/caption] “I was telling myself how nice it was to be back at Centre Court. I’ve worked so hard since February to be ready for Wimbledon,” Federer said. “It was a fun match, it was close, maybe exactly what I needed. “We’ll see if I’m fully fit as I go further in the tournament, nobody knows, not even me.” Federer’s 303rd Grand Slam singles victory moved him within three of Martina Navratilova’s record and gave him 302 more wins than world number 706 Willis has managed. Willis, 25-year-old tennis coach, defeated Ricardas Berankis, ranked 652 places above him, to win his first ever Grand Slam match and Federer is as fascinated by his fairytale rise as the rest of the tennis world. “I was very intrigued about his story. It’s exactly what this sport needs when guys come from nowhere,” Federer said. “I’m really excited to play against him. It’s a huge moment for him, his story his unbelievable. He was playing club tennis I heard.” Bidding to win Wimbledon for a record eighth time, Federer would become the oldest man to triumph at the All England Club in the Open era and the oldest Grand Slam champion since Ken Rosewall in 1972 if he lifts the trophy in two weeks time. Even in the twilight of his career, Federer’s pedigree is head and shoulders above most opponents not named Novak Djokovic, but the contrast was especially striking against world number 52 Pella. The 17-time Grand Slam champion now has 148 victories on grass throughout his glittering career, while Pella had lost all three of his previous matches on the surface and had never been past the second round of any of the four majors. Yet missing the recent French Open due to a back injury – ending his record run of 65 consecutive appearances in Grand Slams – prolonged a frustrating year for Federer, who also had surgery on a knee injury following January’s Australian Open semi-final loss to Djokovic. Federer arrived at Wimbledon on the back of his first defeat to a teenager in 10 years against Germany’s Alexander Zverev in Halle. And his lack of rhythm after that turbulent period was again obvious for much of tight first set that Federer only won when he roused himself in the tie-break. It was the same story in the second set, with Federer well short of his best but eventually edging another tie-break before finally making his class count in the third set. Djokovic starts bid for third title World number one Djokovic cruised to an easy 6-0, 7-6 (7/3), 6-4 victory over Britain’s James Ward, comfortably demonstrating why his recent French Open triumph allowed him to pass the $100 million prize money barrier. Top seed Djokovic, who holds all four majors and is bidding for a third successive Wimbledon title, goes on to face France’s Adrian Mannarino. A fourth Wimbledon title would make him just the second man since Don Budge in 1938 to win five straight majors. It would also put him three-quarters of the way to becoming the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to complete the calendar Grand Slam. “The first nine games were flawless,” said Djokovic, who raced out into a 6-0, 3-0 lead before Ward, ranked at 177, steadied the ship. Djokovic has won six of the last eight Grand Slams, taking him to a career tally of 12 – within two of Rafael Nadal’s mark and five behind Federer’s record. Five-time women’s champion Venus Williams battled past Croatian teenager Donna Vekic 7-6 (7/3), 6-4. Williams, 36, is the oldest woman in the main draw and first won Wimbledon in 2000 when Vekic was just four. The world number eight, playing in a record-equalling 71st Grand Slam, will next play Greek qualifier Maria Sakkari. French Open champion Garbine Muguruza also made the second round with a 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 win over Italy’s Camila Giorgi. The second seeded Spaniard, who was runner-up to Serena Williams in 2015, goes on to face Slovakian qualifier Jana Cepelova. Ivanovic crashes Former world number one Ana Ivanovic was knocked out, losing 6-2, 7-5 to Russian qualifier, Ekaterina Alexandrova, the world 223. Ivanovic said she was suffering a right wrist injury and won’t play again until the Rio Olympics. Japanese fifth seed Kei Nishikori started his bid to finally make a strong run at Wimbledon with a 6-4, 6-3, 7-5 victory over Australia’s Sam Groth. Milos Raonic started with a 7-6 (7/4), 6-2, 6-4 victory over Pablo Carreno Busta in front of new coach and All England Club legend John McEnroe. Raonic will next play Italy’s Andreas Seppi. Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber, the fourth seeded German, eased past Britain’s Laura Robson 6-2, 6-2. Ninth seed Madison Keys was a 6-3, 6-1 victor over Germany’s Laura Siegemund while Romanian fifth seed Simona Halep, a semi-finalist in 2014, beat Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlova 6-4, 6-1.