LONDON: Seven-time champion Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, the 2008 and 2010 winner, raced into the Wimbledon second round here on Tuesday as the tournament sweltered in near record-breaking heat.

Second seeded Federer, bidding to become the first man to win eight Wimbledon titles and take his majors tally to 18, enjoyed a 67-minute 6-1, 6-3, 6-3 win over Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia, the world number 88 he beat at the French Open this year.

Federer will face Sam Querrey of the US for a place in the last 32.

Nadal, defeated in the second, first and fourth rounds in the last three years, reached the second round with a 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 win over Thomaz Bellucci, his fifth win in five meetings against the 42nd-ranked Brazilian.

Tenth-seeded Nadal, his lowest ranking for a decade, faces Germany’s Dustin Brown for a place in the last 32.

Britain’s Andy Murray was given an unexpected run for his money in his first-round clash against Kazakh Mikhail Kukushkin, but still came through 6-4, 7-6 (3), 6-4.

The third seed and 2013 champion looked on course to cruise through when he broke in the 10th game to clinch the first set and immediately broke again to take a 2-0 lead in the second.

But the wheels came off his serve and the Kazakh, ranked 59th in the world, took full advantage and fought back to lead 6-5 with the chance to serve for the set in sweltering conditions on Centre Court.

He could not hold his nerve, however, dro­pped serve and was soundly beaten in the tiebreak as Murray raced into 6-1 lead and clos­ed it out after another brief wobble on serve.

Murray, among the favourites to clinch a second Wimbledon title this year, broke in the fifth game of the third set and closed it out when Kukushkin fired a backhand wide.

French 13th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was probably wishing for a few clouds after he spent more than four hours to see off Luxemburg’s Gilles Muller 7-6 (10-8), 6-7 (3-7), 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.

On the women’s side, defending champion Petra Kvitova, the second seed, took just 35 minutes to reach the second round, cruising to a 6-1, 6-0 win over Kiki Bertens, the world number 108 from the Netherlands.

Kvitova, also the 2011 champion, dropped just one point on serve and next meets Kurumi Nara of Japan for a place in the last 32.

EUGENIE Bouchard of Canada returns a ball to China’s Ying-Ying Duan during their first-round match.—AP

Kvitova’s only dropped point on serve came on a double fault in the final game of the match.

The powerful 25-year-old left-hander would have been relieved to have enjoyed a brief first round outing as temperatures rocketed to around 30 degrees Celsius.

Eugenie Bouchard, who reached the Wimbledon final last year, was dumped out in the first round by China’s Duan Ying-Ying, the world number 117.

The 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 defeat against the qualifier was 12th seeded Bouchard’s 12th loss in her last 14 matches and will see her drop out of the world top 20.

The 21-year-old Canadian was one of the show-stealers at Wimbledon in 2014 where she delighted fans and media with her fondness for pop star Justin Bieber and TV show The Big Bang Theory.

On Tuesday, she committed 10 double faults and 23 unforced errors against Duan, who had never previously beaten a player inside the world top 75.

Wednesday is expected to see a Wimbledon record high of around 35 degrees which would require the heat index, where matches are briefly suspended, to be consulted.

Joining Kvitova in the second round was 10th seeded German Angelique Kerber who handed compatriot Carina Witthoeft a 6-0, 6-0 drubbing.

In other women’s matches on Tuesday, Britain’s Heather Watson beat 32nd seed Caroline Garcia of France 1-6, 6-3, 8-6; Spain’s 20th seed Garbiqe Muguruza overcame Varvara Lepchenko of the US 6-4, 6-1; Slovakia’s Jana Cepelova overpowered third seed Simona Halep of Romania 5-7, 6-4, 6-3; and Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska, the 13th seed, downed Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-2.

Published in Dawn, July 1st, 2015

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