Federer battles back from the brink

Roger Federer narrowly avoided falling victim to the biggest upset in Wimbledon history as he overcame Alejandro Falla in a dramatic first-round match on Centre Court.

Colombian Falla, ranked 60th in the world, had lost all four previous meetings with the defending champion but still clinched the opening two sets with some stunning tennis. Federer somehow pulled one back and then broke Falla when he served for the match in the fourth set before racing away to win 5-7 4-6 6-4 7-6 (7/1) 6-0.

Novak Djokovic also battled back from the brink as he defeated Olivier Rochus 4-6 6-2 3-6 6-4 6-2 in a late-night thriller on Centre Court. The finish time of 10.58pm was the latest in Wimbledon history and came with only two minutes to spare before the 11pm deadline for play to stop.

Andy Roddick was in imperious form as he swept aside compatriot Rajeev Ram 6-3 6-2 6-2 in an all-American showdown on Court One, but Croatian seeds Marin Cilic and Ivan Ljubicic both suffered first-round defeats.

Cilic, the 11th seed, lost 6-2 6-4 7-6 (7-1) to Germany's Florian Mayer while Michal Przysiezny of Poland dispatched 17th seed Ljubicic 7-5 7-6 (7-5) 6-3.

Former champion Lleyton Hewitt came from a set down to defeat Argentina's Maximo Gonzalez 5-7 6-0 6-2 6-2, while seventh seed Nikolay Davydenko took four and a quarter hours to see off South African Kevin Anderson 3-6 6-7 (3-7) 7-6 (7-3) 7-5 9-7.

Dustin Brown endured a 6-3 4-6 6-2 6-3 defeat by Austrian 16th seed Jurgen Melzer on his grand slam debut and then told the Lawn Tennis Association they must take the initiative if they want him to represent Great Britain's Davis Cup team.

The world number 105 from Jamaica qualifies for Britain through a grandmother on his father's side and is open to changing his allegiance.

"Something has to happen from the LTA. If they're interested, then they have to step towards me," he said. "If the LTA would step towards me and offer me things that would help me improve my game then obviously that's one of the things I would have to look at."

Spanish 22nd seed Feliciano Lopez beat Jesse Levine of the USA 7-6 3-6 6-2 6-3 to march into the second round and Rainer Schuettler of Germany made light work of Russian Dmitry Tursunov with a 6-2 6-2 6-3 win on Court 11. There were also wins for American Mardy Fish, French 21st seed Gael Monfils and Czech 12th seed Tomas Berdych.