Federer, Nadal begin smoothly

Petra Kvitova cruises though; Eugenie Bouchard and Simona Halep crash out in the first round.

July 01, 2015 02:30 am | Updated 10:04 am IST - LONDON:

It looked all too easy for the champions at the All England Club on Tuesday.

Defending women’s champion Petra Kvitova and former men’s winners Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal all won their first-round matches at Wimbledon in straight sets and in rapid-fire fashion.

Of the three, only Nadal dropped serve, and the big names imposed themselves with ease on Day 2 of the grass-court Grand Slam as London basked in warm, sunny conditions.

In keeping with Wimbledon tradition, Kvitova had the honour of playing the first match on Centre Court on the second day as the reigning women’s champion, and the second-seeded Czech wasted no time in reasserting her dominance on her favourite court, overpowering Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands 6-1, 6-0 in just 35 minutes.

Kvitova won 28 of 29 points on serve, with the only blemish coming when she double-faulted on the first point of the final game, hitting a 150 kph second serve just wide. She won the next four points, finishing appropriately with a service winner.

While Kvitova was happy to sail through so quickly, she felt bad for her parents, who were guests in the Royal Box and got to see their daughter play for barely more than half an hour.

“I have to say sorry to them,” she said, smiling. “I think they are happy anyway.”

Federer followed Kvitova on Centre Court and also made quick work of his opponent.

The second-seeded Swiss needed just 68 minutes to dispatch 88th-ranked Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia 6-1, 6-3, 6-3.

“I was happy I played aggressive,” he said. “I must say I’m very happy, always, to win like that.”

Playing in his 63rd consecutive Major, Federer said: “Somehow, the streak is still alive and I’m also very proud of the fact that I never retired from a match once it started,” he said.

“Those two stats I care about, and hope I can keep them up for the remainder of my career.”

Nadal coasted to a 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 win over Thomaz Bellucci on Court 1.

Nadal was broken twice and was credited with fewer winners (21) than unforced errors (23) but still was never seriously troubled.

“In general, it was a very positive victory,” the Spaniard said. “Straight sets. Not bad feelings.”

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