ROGER FEDERER'S day couldn't have got much better had Carlsberg, and not Pimm's, been the beverage of choice at SW19.

The world No.3 required just 69 minutes to take care of business against Victor Hanescu as he began the defence of the title he won against Andy Murray 12 months ago.

His mastery of events was such that his Romanian opponent was incapable of generating a single break point against the Federer serve and, by the end, was so demoralised that he could claim just four points in the entirety of the third set.

The 17-time grand-slam event winner was probably just settling down to dinner when he learned that all this talk about the most e agerly anticipated quarter-final in tournament history, against Rafael Nadal, had been rather premature.

As for Hanescu, the world No.48, perhaps the only consolation was that the end to his Wimbledon experience wasn't quite so ignominious as 2010, where he deliberately defaulted a third-round match against Germany's Daniel Brands after spitting at a handful of onlookers in the crowd who were charmingly calling him a "gypsy".

This was the seventh time Federer had opened the bill on day one at Centre Court since his first championship here 10 years ago, and a 6-3, 6-2, 6-0 win maintained his unblemished record.

The only slip-ups he experienced were the occasions when he was uncertain with his footwork on the slick Centre Court surface.

"Overall, I played a good match," said Federer. "There were no hiccups on the serve. I returned well and I was moving pretty well even though I thought it was quite slippery, because it is opening Monday. There was a bit of a breeze, as well, and it was cold. I'm happy to get out of there quick and early. In the first round, we've seen the surprise losses happen too often. So, it was a perfect day.

"Once I understood what it's all about, opening Monday, where the defending champion gets the honour to open the court, it's always been an amazing day and match to be part of," he added. "I see it also for the other players. They always think it's super-exciting being a part of that match. I'm happy I've won them all."

Nadal wasn't the only potential obstacle cleared from Federer's path. His fellow countryman Stanislas Wawrinka has been in inspired form this season but he was on the wrong end of his much-anticipated encounter with Lleyton Hewitt, by a 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 score on Court No.1.

In Andy Murray's quarter, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was one man who was capable of making it beyond a tough first-round opener against an interesting Belgian, beating David Goffin by a 7-6 (7-4), 6-4, 6-3, scoreline.

Marin Cilic, the No.10 seed, was impressive against Marcos Baghdatis, Viktor Troicki eliminated his fellow Serb Janko Tipsarevic, while Frenchman Nicolas Mahut, who won his first ATP tour event only last week, continued that fine form against Jan Hajek.