Working mum Serena keen to strike a balance as Fed starts with a win

Jonathan Veal

Serena Williams is hoping to feel less guilt about spending time away from her daughter after beginning her Wimbledon challenge with a victory.

The 36-year-old enjoyed a winning return to the All England Club by beating Arantxa Rus 7-5 6-3 in the first round.

She missed the 2017 tournament as she was pregnant with her daughter Olympia and this year’s version is just the fourth event she has played since giving birth last September — and only the second outside the US.

Her first was at the French Open last month, where Williams had to pull out ahead of the fourth round with an arm injury, having suffered it as a result of playing singles and doubles in Paris.

That heavy schedule also meant she spent less time with Olympia, which she found tough.

It’s hard. I realised at Roland Garros if the days were long, like I was playing singles and doubles there, that was hard because I felt guilty,” Williams admitted.

“I was like ‘I haven’t seen Olympia, what am I doing?’.

“If it’s the shorter days, now that I’m not playing doubles in this event, I have the day off, I think that will help.

“I’m adjusting well. I spend so much time with her every single day. We literally do everything.

“I really don’t like being away from her. I also think it’s healthy in a way for me to do what I need to do, be that working mum, then go back home and be the mum.”

Meanwhile, Roger Federer began his quest for a ninth Wimbledon title with a lightning-quick win over Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic.

Defending men’s champion Federer was first on Centre Court at 1pm, and an hour and 19 minutes later he had wrapped up a 6-1 6-3 6-4 victory against the world number 58.

Of greater inconvenience to the 20-time grand slam champion seems to be his famous ‘RF’ logo.

Federer unveiled a new Uniqlo kit on Centre Court yesterday, confirming the end of his clothing deal with Nike after more than a decade.

The Japanese brand is reported to be paying the Swiss superstar around £22m (€24.8m) a year for the next decade.

Yet missing from his new outfit was Federer’s monogram of his initials which he confirmed is still the property of Nike.

“So the ‘RF’ logo is with Nike at the moment, but it will come to me at some point,” Federer said.

I hope, rather sooner than later, that Nike can be nice and helpful in the process to bring it over to me. It’s also something that was very important for me, for the fans really.

Last year’s runner-up Marin Cilic was also a comfortable winner, beating Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan 6-1 6-4 6-4.

Stan Wawrinka came out on top in a heavyweight first-round contest with Grigor Dimitrov. The former world number three is currently ranked 224th due to a prolonged absence through injury.

Wawrinka needed two operations on his left knee last year and has struggled for form since making his comeback in January.

But the Swiss was always going to be a dangerous floater in the main draw and so it proved as he beat sixth-seeded Bulgarian Dimitrov 1-6 7-6 (7/3) 7-6 (7/5) 6-4.

American Sam Querrey, a semi-finalist last year, fired 15 aces as he secured a 6-2 6-4 6-3 victory over Australian Jordan Thompson.

Milos Raonic won 11 games in a row on his way to beating Britain’s Liam Broady and ninth seed John Isner beat Germany’s Yannick Maden, also in straight sets.