Federer opens with straight-set win

LONDON, June 22 (UPI) -- World No. 2 Roger Federer rolled to an easy win in opening-day action Monday of the Wimbledon Championships in London.

Federer, whose only loss in his last 42 matches at Wimbledon was in the 2008 final, defeated Yen-Hsun Lu 7-5, 6-3, 6-2 behind 10 aces and five service breaks.

Federer actually had to come from behind in the match. He trailed 2-3 in the first set after his serve was broken but immediately broke back and controlled the match from there. He had 42 winners against 10 unforced errors.

Fourth-seeded Novak Djokovic also advanced but was pushed into a 3 1/2-hour battle by Julien Benneteau before claiming a 6-7 (8-10), 7-6 (7-1), 6-2, 6-4 victory.

No. 9-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and 13th-seeded Robin Soderling also needed four sets to make the second round. Tsonga won two tiebreakers in beating Andrey Golubev 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-5). Soderling topped Gilles Muller 6-7 (4-7), 7-5, 6-1, 6-2.

Seventh-seeded Fernando Verdasco played just 90 minutes in dispatching James Ward 6-1, 6-3, 6-4.

But 17th-seeded James Blake became the first upset victim of the tournament. He was moved up in the draw after No. 1 Rafael Nadal withdrew but fell 7-5, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) to Andreas Seppi. Blake was up 5-0 in the third-set tiebreaker but Seppi won the next seven points and eliminated the American.