Federer begins with stroll past Russian

LONDON – Roger Federer was up and running in his quest for a fifth consecutive Wimbledon singles title after a 6-3 6-2 6-4 victory over Russian Teimuraz Gabashvili yesterday.

The Swiss world number one lit up a gloomy day on a Centre Court shorn of its roof, to see off a game opponent ranked 86th in the world. Drizzle had delayed the start of the match for a little under two hours and light rain continued to fall for much of a largely one-sided contest.Federer needed just one break of serve to take the opening set and then broke the Russian twice in the second to take control.One more break was enough in the third and he sealed victory with a clinical forehand.* Wimbledon women’s singles first round results yesterday (prefix number denotes seeding): Laura Granville (US) beat Aleksandra Wozniak (Canada) 7-6 6-3; 25-Lucie Safarova (Czech Republic) beat Zuzana Ondraskova (Czech Republic) 7-5 6-2; Roberta Vinci (Italy) beat Ashley Harkleroad (US) 6-2 6-1; Kaia Kanepi (Estonia) beat Tatjana Malek (Germany) 6-1 6-4.Nampa-ReutersDrizzle had delayed the start of the match for a little under two hours and light rain continued to fall for much of a largely one-sided contest.Federer needed just one break of serve to take the opening set and then broke the Russian twice in the second to take control.One more break was enough in the third and he sealed victory with a clinical forehand.* Wimbledon women’s singles first round results yesterday (prefix number denotes seeding): Laura Granville (US) beat Aleksandra Wozniak (Canada) 7-6 6-3; 25-Lucie Safarova (Czech Republic) beat Zuzana Ondraskova (Czech Republic) 7-5 6-2; Roberta Vinci (Italy) beat Ashley Harkleroad (US) 6-2 6-1; Kaia Kanepi (Estonia) beat Tatjana Malek (Germany) 6-1 6-4.Nampa-Reuters