Federer’s royal show

Six-time champion Roger Federer reached the Wimbledon third round yesterday with 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 Wimbledon 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 Julien Benneteau who beat Michael Russell 7-6, 2-6, 6-4, 7-5.

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.

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 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.

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 Jamie Hampton.

Also making progress was former world number one Ana Ivanovic, the 14th seed from Serbia, who defeated Spain’s Maria Jose Martinez 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 and Sabine Lisicki.

Last year’s semi-finalist Lisicki reached the third round, beating Bojana Jovanovski 3-6, 6-2, 8-6.

Other results
(Women) Clijsters bt Hlavackova 6-3 6-3; Cirstea bt Li Na 6-3, 6-4; Sharapova leads Pironkova 7-6, 3-1 (postponed).
(Men) Roddick bt Baker 7-6, 6-4, 7-5; Djokovic bt Harrison 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.