Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi – File photo

LONDON: Pakistani ace Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi sailed into the Wimbledon second round with doubles partner Jean-Julien Rojer beating the Brit pairing of Josh Goodall and James Ward 7-6 (7/3)  6-2 6-4 on Wednesday.

The Pakistan and Dutch duo combined for 13 aces and 19 winners in a solid performance and will play the winners of the match between Flavio Cipolla-Fabio Fognini and Bobby Reynolds- Izak Van Der Merwe.

Meanwhile, in singles competition, six-time champion Roger Federer marched into the third round with a flawless a 6-1, 6-3, 6-2 win over Italy’s Fabio Fognini, a regal performance witnessed by Britain’s Prince Charles.

The third-seeded Swiss took just 74 minutes to defeat Fognini, who received a quick lesson in bowing from Federer before walking onto Centre Court where Charles, on a first visit in more than 40 years, 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 quarter-finals for the last two years, next faces either France’s Julien Benneteau or Michael Russell of the United States for a place in the last 16.

In delayed first round matches, three-time runner-up Andy Roddick saw off Britain’s Jamie Baker 7-6 (7/1), 6-4, 7-5, while Spanish seventh seed David Ferrer defeated Germany’s Dustin Brown 7-6 (7/5), 6-4, 6-4.

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 never 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.

“This year I hated the grass a little bit less than in previous years,” said Stosur, who was the last surviving Australian in the singles events.

“I still love playing at Wimbledon, but obviously it hasn’t been my best tournament.”

Tamira Paszek saved two match points to send Wozniacki crashing out in the first round under the Centre Court roof.

The 21-year-old Austrian, fresh from claiming the grasscourt title in Eastbourne at the weekend, prevailed in a three hour 12-minute marathon to win the first round clash 5-7, 7-6 (7/4), 6-4.

“I came here in a great rhythm from Eastbourne, but this was really tough,”said Paszek, the world number 35 who was a quarter-finalist last year. “Caroline is a real fighter and a great competitor. It was tough under the roof because the court slows down but I gave it everything I had.”

Wozniacki, who hadn’t lost in the first round of her last 20 majors, praised Paszek.
“It’s not a nice feeling. It sucks when you lose, especially after having two match points. But I didn’t play badly, she went for it and that’s it,” said the Dane.

But there were no problems for low-key third seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland who defeated Russia’s Elena Vesnina, the first-round conqueror of Venus Williams, 6-2, 6-1.

Radwanska, who didn’t commit one error, next meets Heather Watson who ended Britain’s 10-year wait to have a woman in the third round by sweeping to a 6-1, 6-4 victory over America’s Jamie Hampton.

Four-time Grand Slam title-winner Kim Clijsters, playing her last Wimbledon before retirement, eased into the third round with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Andrea Hlavackova of the Czech Republic.

Italy’s 10th seed Sara Errani, the French Open runner-up, needed just seven seconds to complete her 6-1, 6-3 first round win over American qualifier Coco Vandeweghe after the tie had been rained off Tuesday.