Federer shows no mercy in first round at Wimbledon; Nadal, Wawrinka win

LONDON -- The man with the most major titles in tennis came up against the player with the second-worst record in Grand Slam history.

So it was no surprise that Roger Federer strolled to a 6-1, 6-1, 6-3 victory Tuesday over Paolo Lorenzi, a one-sided encounter that gave the Swiss star a quick workout to start his quest for an eighth Wimbledon crown and 18th Grand Slam championship.

Federer lost here in the second round last year to No. 116 Sergei Stakhovsky, but was never in danger against the 83rd-ranked Italian.

The fourth-seeded Federer served nine aces, saved all five break points against him and broke Lorenzi six times.

The only suspense came near the end of the match when Lorenzi saved five match points while serving at 2-5 in a game that went to eight deuces. Federer held serve in the next game, finishing the match with an ace.

"I thought I played very well, served well, played the transition game, came to the net," Federer said. "You want to be eager to play, motivated, not wanting to underestimate anybody and win the tournament and that's why I'm here."

Federer and Lorenzi are both 32, but that's where the similarities end. For the Italian, the loss extended his career Grand Slam record to 0-13. Only one player, Juan-Antonio Marin of Costa Rica, has a worse record, with no wins and 17 losses.

Two-time Wimbledon champion Rafael Nadal was made to work hard for his opening-round win at Wimbledon on Tuesday, rallying from one set down before beating hard-hitting Martin Klizan of Slovakia.

The top-ranked Nadal battled for nearly three hours to erase memories of his loss in the first round last year, prevailing 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.

The 14-time Grand Slam champion, who won his ninth French Open title earlier this month, will next face Lukas Rosol, who beat him here two years ago in the second round.

Earlier, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga needed just four points and two minutes to advance and Stan Wawrinka swept through in straight sets.

Tsonga, the 14th-seeded Frenchman, had been set to serve for the match at 5-4 in the fifth set against Austria's Jurgen Melzer when rain forced a suspension of the first-round match Monday.

Tsonga, a two-time semifinalist at Wimbledon, came back out onto Court 1 on Tuesday afternoon and barely broke a sweat. He held serve at love and finished with his 20th ace to complete a 6-1, 3-6, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory.

Tsonga spent more time signing autographs after the match than he did on court Tuesday against Melzer.

"It was tough yesterday," Tsonga said. "Today I just came for one game, but I'm happy to go through."

Australian Open champion Wawrinka, meanwhile, served 18 aces and cruised to a 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 win over Joao Sousa of Portugal.

The fifth-seeded Swiss player was coming off a first-round loss at the French Open in his first Grand Slam since winning his first major at Melbourne in January. It was also Wawrinka's first win since 2011 at the All England Club, where he had lost in the opening round the past two years.

No. 10 Kei Nishikori was a straight-set winner over Kenny de Schepper.