Easy wins for Federer and Nadal

Former champions Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal easily progressed at Wimbledon, securing straight-set wins in the first round.

Federer took just 67 minutes to see off debutant Damir Dzumhur 6-1 6-3 6-4.

Nadal, 29, needed longer against Thomaz Bellucci on Court One, but his 6-4 6-2 6-3 victory was still comprehensive.

Elsewhere, 13th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was pushed to five sets by Gilles Muller, eventually beating him 7-6 (10-8) 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 3-6 6-2.

Temperatures peaked above 30C in south-west London, but neither Nadal nor Federer were concerned about playing on one of hottest days of the year in Britain.

“In Australia it can be worse,” said two-time Wimbledon champion Nadal.

“It’s actually beautiful. When you have this weather in Wimbledon, it’s probably one of the best places in the world.”

Nadal happy with ‘solid match’

Nadal hit only one ace during his match and made five double faults, but the 29-year-old was happy with his performance.

“It was a very positive victory,” said the Spaniard, who lost in the fourth round to teenager Nick Kyrigos last year.

“Straight sets, no bad feelings, good backhands. The forehand needs to be a bit more aggressive.”

Federer trying to play freely

Second seed Roger Federer would have experienced more difficult matches in his previous 62 Grand Slams.

“I was happy I played aggressive,” said the Swiss, who covered just 1,204.5 metres during his win over the world number 88.

“He hung around, changed up his game a little bit which also made it a bit more difficult. I’m always happy to win.”