Federer cruises into second round

Tennis:  Roger Federer began the defence of his Wimbledon title with a straight-sets win over Russia's Teimuraz Gabashvili on…

Tennis: Roger Federer began the defence of his Wimbledon title with a straight-sets win over Russia's Teimuraz Gabashvili on Centre Court.

Federer, bidding for a fifth successive title which would match Bjorn Borg's record, won 6-3 6-2 6-4 to set up a second-round meeting with either Italian veteran David Sanguinetti or teenager Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina.

Play finally began in SW19 at 2.40pm after a lengthy rain delay.

And Federer wasted little time securing his 29th consecutive win at Wimbledon, needing a shade over 90 minutes to reach the second round.

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Andy Roddick also reached the second round with ease, beating Justin Gimelstob in straight sets.

Twice a Wimbledon runner-up, Roddick will face Danai Udomchoke in the next round after his 6-1 7-6 7-5 victory on Court One.

Tim Henman and Carlos Moya will have to return tomorrow with their match poised at two sets all and 5-5 in the decider.

Thailand's Udomchoke reached round two with a 6-4 7-5 6-3 win over Carlos Berlocq of Argentina.

Fernando Gonzalez recovered from a set down to beat Robby Ginepri 3-6 7-6 6-2 6-2 and set up a second-round meeting with Alejando Falla.

Gonzalez, the Australian Open runner-up, was 4-1 down in the second-set tie-break before turning the match on its head.

Philipp Kohlschreiber was the first men's seed to go out, beaten in straight sets by Florent Serra.

The 27th seeded German was beaten 7-6 6-4 6-4, but there were no such problems for his compatriot Tommy Haas, the 13th seed.

Haas was a 6-4 6-3 6-2 winner over Zack Fleishman of the United States and will meet Tomas Zib in the second round.

Zib saw off the challenge of Argentina's Diego Hartfield in a tough five-setter, coming through 4-6 7-6 3-6 6-3 6-4.

David Ferrer, the 17th seed, joined Haas in the next round with a  6-3 6-3 6-1 win over Sergio Roitman to set up a match against the dangerous Paul-Henri Mathieu.

The Frenchman was a straight-sets winner over Radek Stepanek, winning 7-6 6-2 6-2.