Roger Federer made a typically confident start to his quest for a record eighth Wimbledon title as he dismissed the world No88 Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia 6-1, 6-3, 6-3.

The 33-year-old, seeded No2 this year and beaten by Novak Djokovic in last year’s final, was never troubled as he made it through to round two.

Federer set another record as soon as he stepped on to the court for what was his 63rd consecutive grand slam appearance, beating the mark he had shared with Japan’s Ai Sugiyama.

Basking in the heat in front of a packed Centre Court, the first set went by in just 18 minutes and the whole thing took him just 68 minutes.

“You always try to focus on every point in the first round,” Federer said. “Try not to lose a set or in the end, the match. I was trying to be aggressive and I am always happy to win like that.”

It is rare that when Federer steps on to the court, his opponent is the story but that is the case for Dzumhur, who was born in Sarajevo in 1992, as Nato bombs fell on the city. He grew up playing tennis in the former Olympic hall which had been badly hit by shelling and was used as a morgue during the war. The fact that he has made it from there to the tour is remarkable in itself and he enjoyed himself on his Wimbledon debut.

The 23-year-old showed some lovely touches, especially at the net but lacked the power to hurt Federer and the Swiss had his own way throughout, as he had done when they had met in the third round of the French Open earlier this month.

After the first point, one male fan shouted out “Roger, I love you,” and most of the crowd seemed to feel the same way as they cheered everything that came off his racket.

Two breaks, in the fourth and sixth games, gave him the opening set and though Dzumhur held his own until 3-3 in the second, Federer pulled away before cruising through the third to set up a clash with American Sam Querrey or Igor Sijsling of the Netherlands.

Guardian Service