Six-time champion Roger Federer has reached the Wimbledon third round with a 6-1 6-3 6-2 win over Italy’s Fabio Fognini watched by Prince Charles.
The third-seeded Swiss took just 74 minutes to defeat Fognini, who received a quick lesson in bowing from Federer before walking onto Centre Court where Charles, on a first visit in more than 40 years, was watching with his wife Camilla from the royal box.
Federer, chasing Pete Sampras’s record of seven Wimbledon titles, fired 13 aces and 35 winners, and has lost just nine games in his first two rounds.
“I’m very happy to have won and to be back on Centre Court. It’s great to have that feeling and to see Charles and Camilla up there is just great for tennis,” said Federer.
“We were told beforehand that they were coming and we were asked to bow. We said no problem.”
In delayed first-round matches, three-time runner-up Andy Roddick saw off Britain’s Jamie Baker 7-6 (7/1) 6-4 7-5 while Spanish seventh seed David Ferrer defeated Germany’s Dustin Brown 7-6 (7/5) 6-4 6-4.
The bottom half of the women’s draw opened up with fifth-seeded US Open champion Samantha Stosur and seventh-seeded Caroline Wozniacki both knocked out.
Stosur had never been past the third round in nine previous visits to the All England Club and that miserable sequence was extended with a 6-2 0-6 6-4 defeat against world number 72 Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands.
“This year I hated the grass a little bit less than in previous years,” said Stosur, who was the last surviving Australian in the singles events.
“I still love playing at Wimbledon, but obviously it hasn’t been my best tournament.”
Tamira Paszek saved two match points to send Wozniacki crashing out in the first round under the Centre Court roof.
The 21-year-old Austrian, fresh from claiming the grasscourt title in Eastbourne at the weekend, prevailed in a three-hour-and-12-minute marathon to win the first round clash 5-7 7-6 (7/4) 6-4.
Third seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland who defeated Russia’s Elena Vesnina, the first-round conqueror of Venus Williams, 6-2 6-1.
Radwanska, who didn’t commit one error, next meets Heather Watson who ended Britain’s 10-year wait to have a woman in the third round by sweeping to a 6-1 6-4 victory over America’s Jamie Hampton.
Four-time Grand Slam title-winner Kim Clijsters, playing her last Wimbledon before retirement, eased into the third round with a 6-3 6-3 win over Andrea Hlavackova of the Czech Republic.
Italy’s 10th seed Sara Errani, the French Open runner-up, needed just seven seconds to complete her 6-1 6-3 first round win over American qualifier Coco Vandeweghe after the tie had been rained off the previous day.
Errani had been on match point but on the resumption she didn’t have to hit a ball as her opponent handed her victory with a double fault.
Also making progress was former world number one Ana Ivanovic, the 14th seed from Serbia, who defeated Spain’s Maria Jose Martinez 6-3 3-6 6-3, and German 15th seed Sabine Lisicki, who beat Serbia’s Bojana Jovanovski 3-6 6-2 8-6.
Later, defending champion Novak Djokovic faces Ryan Harrison of the United States, while women’s top seed Maria Sharapova takes on Bulgaria’s Tsvetana Pironkova.
