, One day after his 36th birthday, Roger Federer cruised through his opening match at the Canadian Open by brushing aside home favourite Peter Polansky in straight sets.
Federer, who was playing his first competitive match since winning Wimbledon, spent just 53 minutes on court before sealing a comprehensive 6-2 6-1 victory to reach the third round.
Seeded second at the Masters 1000 event, the Swiss received an opening round bye in Montreal, however he showed no signs of rust despite the blustery conditions.
The eighteen-time Grand Slam champion will now face either American Jack Sock or Spaniard David Ferrer in the last 16.
One-way traffic from the off
Federer had faced Polansky, the world number 115, once before when the Canadian won just two games at the same event in 2014.
It wasn’t a shock, then, when the opening set lasted a paltry 20 minutes, with Polansky doing little to disrupt the one-sided flow of the match.
Federer may have been slightly surprised by the identity of his opponent after Polansky defeated his Canadian compatriot Vasek Pospisil, a former top 30 player, in the opening round.
After that result, a match against Federer on Montreal’s main show court was something of a bonus, however the Canadian was far from relaxed in his opening service game.
Polansky no match for the great Swiss
Polansky served two double faults to hand Federer an early break and from there the result never looked in doubt.
The Canadian, seemingly star-struck by the occasion, landed just 39 per cent of his first serves in the opening set.
That gave Federer plenty of opportunities to gobble up his opponent’s second delivery, with the Swiss often finishing at the net with guile and poise.
The second set was no different, as Federer raced to a 4-0 lead without appearing to break sweat.
Polansky earned a rare memento from the contest when he landed a running forehand passing shot to fashion up two break points.
Both were saved by Federer, though, and it wasn’t long before he served out the match in under an hour.