London — Roger Federer began his quest for a ninth Wimbledon title with a familiar flourish as he crushed Dusan Lajovic 6-1 6-3 6-4 in glorious Centre Court sunshine on Monday. Federer began in stunning fashion — dashing off the first set in 20 minutes — and never looked troubled as he sauntered into the second round. Lajovic shook off his early nerves to at least give Federer some practice in the second and third sets but the Serb could do no better than 2017 when he also suffered a straight-sets defeat by the Swiss, that time in the second round. Federer, contesting his 20th consecutive Wimbledon, is bidding to become only the second player to win nine singles titles on the London lawns after Martina Navratilova. Runner-up in 2017 Marin Cilic served 21 aces as he made a solid start with a clinical 6-1 6-4 6-4 victory over Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka. Croatian Cilic, who lost the 2017 final to Federer, underlined his credentials for another Grand Slam title bid to add to his US Open...
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