Stanislas Wawrinka has qualified for the second round at Wimbledon after beating Joao Sousa in straight sets on Centre Court this evening.
The fourth seed secured a 6-2 7-5 7-6 victory in 110 minutes against a resurgent Sousa, who improved gradually throughout the match.
Wawrinka rode the crest of a wave into SW19 this year after beating Novak Djokovic to clinch the French Open in April for what was his second Grand Slam title.
Despite being ranked some 42 places above Sousa, however, the Swiss's meagre record at Wimbledon threw up a number of reasons to be cautious in his opener.
Having been a first-round casualty in three of the last five years, there was little room for complacency as he bid to improve on his quarter-final place last time around - his best ever finish at the All England Club.
The world number four barely broke sweat as he cruised into a first-set lead, registering two breaks of serve en route to a 4-1 advantage, before comfortably seeing the set out.
Sousa found a much-needed resilience that eluded him in the opener, with both players rattling off five games apiece without losing their serve once.
However, the Portuguese - ranked 46th in the world - was crucially broken in the 11th game as Wawrinka then held his serve to move into a two-set lead.
Neither player lost their serve in regulation throughout an even third set, but the underdog endured three broken service games during a tie-break that Wawrinka dominated 7-3 to down the spirited Sousa and progress.
Shane Callaghan
