Federer Begins Quest for Eighth Wimbledon Title With Easy First Round Win
Seven-time Wimbledon Champion Roger Federer entered Wimbledon with a ton of confidence coming off of his title win at the Gerry Weber Open last week. He declared himself a contender for this year’s Wimbledon before the tournament began, and began his bid for an eighth title by putting on a clinic in his 6-1, 6-1, 6-2 first-round victory over Italy’s Paolo Lorenzi.
Federer looked extremely aggressive, attacking the net at every opportunity and seizing control of the match from the open. He approached the net 42 times and won 30 of those points while also hitting 40 winners. In contrast, he committed just 20 unforced errors to never allow Lorenzi to get comfortable.
Federer, who holds the record for most Grand Slam titles, smashed nine aces, including the final one coming on his sixth attempt at match point in the third set to seal the match. He seemed extremely confident entering the tournament and gave no indication of that changing with his performance on Tuesday.
Federer draws a second-round matchup with either Julien Benneteau or Gilles Muller, who will take to the court later Tuesday. He is seeking his 18th career Grand Slam title which would create more separation from peer Rafael Nadal, whose French Open title two weeks ago moved him within three of Federer.
Also advancing into the second round on Tuesday was 2002 Wimbledon Champion Lleyton Hewitt, who defeated Michael Przysiezny of Poland 6-2, 6-7(14), 6-1, 6-4.
