The Wimbledon tennis championships got off to a thrilling start on Monday with defending champion Roger Federer surviving a huge fright as the first round swung into action.
Andy Roddick, the man Federer beat in last year’s epic final, had a much easier ride through to the second round, while comeback girl Kim Clijsters made a winning return to the All England Club.
While Federer scraped through, French Open winner Francesca Schiavone fell at the first hurdle. The Italian fifth seed was knocked out, while Croatia’s Marin Cilic, the 11th seed, was the biggest name in the men’s draw to tumble.
PHOTO: EPA
The men’s defending champion is always the first out on the pristine grass of Centre Court, but it was far from a gala performance from Swiss top seed Federer, who recovered from two sets down to beat Colombia’s Alejandro Falla.
The world No. 60 nearly made Federer only the third men’s title holder to lose in the first round, taking the first two sets and serving for the match at 5-4 up in the fourth.
But the top seed recovered his form to win 5-7, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/1), 6-0 and avoid what would have been one of the worst defeats of his career.
“I’ve lost many matches this season I should have won and today I won a match I should have lost. He played incredible,” Federer said.
“My whole game was sort of in disarray,” he said. “One thing for sure you can do is push the luck on your side. That’s not something I have been doing maybe enough the last few months.”
Roddick cruised through with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 win over fellow American Rajeev Ram.
“I played well today and returned well. I’m really happy to be here,” said the fifth seed as he played his first Wimbledon game since his 16-14 final set loss to Federer in last year’s final.
“This place should inspire anyone who likes tennis. It’s a privilege to be here,” he said.
Belgian eighth seed Clijsters, who made her first appearance at Wimbledon since reaching the 2006 semi-finals following a spell in retirement, marked her return with a straight sets victory over Italy’s Maria Elena Camerin.
Fourth seed Jelena Jankovic overcame the home crowd and a gritty performance from 16-year-old British wild card Laura Robson, the youngest in the women’s draw, who was making her Centre Court debut.
“I had trouble today returning. I had the toughest time doing that, because it’s my first match on grass, and she’s a lefty player. So she gave me a really hard time,” Jankovic said.
Among the other women’s seeds, 11th seed Marion Bartoli, 12th seed Nadia Petrova and Belgian 15th seed Yanina Wickmayer went through to the second round.
Vera Zvonareva, Alisa Kleybanova, Maria Kirilenko and Yaroslava Shvedova also progressed.
In the men’s competition, Cilic was the biggest seed to fall, and his compatriot Ivan Ljubicic, the 17th seed, also tumbled, losing in straight sets to Poland’s Michal Przysiezny.
Stanislas Wawrinka and Tommy Robredo also lost, the latter to Australia’s Peter Luczak.
Seventh seed Nikolay Davydenko came back from two sets down to beat South Africa’s Kevin Anderson.
Other seeds to go through were Tomas Berdych, Jurgen Melzer, Gael Monfils, Feliciano Lopez, Albert Montanes and Victor Hanescu.
Dustin Brown became the first player to represent Jamaica at Wimbledon since 1970, but the dreadlocked 25-year-old, who used to drive a camper van around Europe, lost his Grand Slam debut match to Austrian 16th seed Melzer.
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