Tonight:
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Championship favourite Roger Federer survived an early scare to record a 7-5, 6-3, 6-2 victory over Yen-Hsun Lu, of Chinese Taipei.
The world No2 opened proceedings on Centre Court after last week's withdrawal of defending champion Rafael Nadal and fell behind a break in the first set before producing some stylish tennis to secure a second-round meeting against Spain's Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.
Federer, who will replace Nadal as world No1 if claims an unprecedented 15th grand slam title on Sunday week, needed to be on form to see off a spirited opponent who has won only one grass-court match in three years.
The Swiss master missed his usual Wimbledon warm-up event in Halle but needed no more than a handful of games to get into his stride after becoming only the second runner-up in 36 years to open the Centre Court schedule.
At the French Open, Federer admitted his nerves in dealing with the weight of expectation following Nadal's withdrawal but here he showed all his usual aplomb against Lu, who beat Andy Murray at the Beijing Olympics last year.
And Federer thanked the All England Club for giving him the opportunity to start proceedings.
He said: “I know that Rafa deserves this spot but I feel very privileged and honoured that they gave me the chance to do it again. I am obviously a very proud member of the Club and I have had so much success here, so it was very nice to do it.
“I thought I played really well today even though the opponent was tough and you can tell why he has beaten such good players in the past.
“It's definitely an unbelievable feeling to have won the French Open. I had won the other three grand slams so quickly that I always put myself under so much pressure to win it.
“Rafa has been the supreme guy on clay in the last few years. But I played well in Paris and there is less pressure on me coming into Wimbledon, so I am hoping to do well.”
On this evidence, it is hard to so him not doing well. Lu played with tremendous aggression in the first set but once Federer found the form that has taken him to 12 successive victories heading into the event, there was no chance of a shock upset.
As so often in his illustrious career, once Federer secured the opening set in 48 minutes he slipped into top gear and raced through the second in less than half an hour.
Lu was not playing badly — indeed, he registered only one unforced error in the entire set — but Federer was now in majestic mood, with the point of the Championships so far coming as Lu hit a superb angled backhand volley only for the 27-year-old to chase it down and strike a backhand winner around the net into the corner.
Federer was that most potent combination of accurate and aggressive — he made 14 winners to only two unforced errors in set two — and it was easy to feel a degree of sympathy for Lu as he began to wilt under a barrage of fierce hitting.
The third set was vintage Federer as he broke Lu's serve twice more, including one sealed with a curving forehand pass on the run.
And the five-times Wimbledon champion served out the match in suitably ruthless style, with a trademark big first serve followed up by a deadly forehand winner.
