LONDON — Six-time winner Roger Federer and defending champion Novak Djokovic reached the Wimbledon third round on Wednesday as the women’s draw was blown wide open with the shock exits of three top seeds.
Federer enjoyed a trouble-free 6-1, 6-3, 6-2 win over Italy’s Fabio Fognini in a regal performance witnessed by Britain’s Prince Charles, who was making his first visit to the All England Club in more than 40 years.
The third-seeded Swiss took just 74 minutes to defeat Fognini, who even received a quick lesson in bowing from Federer before walking onto Centre Court where Charles was watching with his wife Camilla from the royal box.
Federer, chasing Pete Sampras’s record of seven Wimbledon titles, fired 13 aces and 35 winners and has lost just nine games in his first two rounds.
“I’m very happy to have won and to be back on Centre Court. It’s great to have that feeling and to see Charles and Camilla up there is just great for tennis,” said Federer.
“We were told beforehand that they were coming and we were asked to bow. We said no problem.”
Federer, who has lost in the quarterfinals for two years running, next faces France’s Julien Benneteau for a place in the last 16.
World number one Djokovic defeated America’s Ryan Harrison 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 under the Centre Court roof in a match which finished just before 10 p.m.
The Serb next tackles either Czech 28th seed Radek Stepanek or Benjamin Becker of Germany.
“It was more difficult than the scoreline suggests. It was a great match and I was in trouble in the second set,” said top seed Djokovic, who fought off six break points in the sixth game of the second set.
“But under the roof, the conditions were difficult and you had to adjust your movements.”
Women’s top seed Maria Sharapova was leading Bulgaria’s Tsvetana Pironkova when bad light halted play on Court One. The Russian was 7-6 (7/3), 3-1 in her second round match.
Sharapova had recovered from 5-2 down to take the first set in a tie-break.
The bottom half of the women’s draw opened up with fifth-seeded US Open champion Samantha Stosur and seventh-seeded Caroline Wozniacki both knocked out.
Stosur had not been past the third round in nine previous visits to the All England Club and that miserable sequence was extended with a 6-2, 0-6, 6-4 defeat against world number 72 Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands.             AFP