At the outset, it appeared Centre Court had been decorated with the cast of the Great Gatsby. Uniformly billowing hats, Polo Ralph Lauren cream-and-navy uniforms. Troublesome in the trouser department was the feedback from the judges, but the preppy look was back all right as Wimbledon finally got going after a painful, spluttering first day.

Roger Federer, never loudly attired in the past, played a star role with his "walk-on" jacket replete with crest: tufts of grass, a Swiss cross, the letter F, for Fashion Groupie presumably, three racquets and his birth sign, Leo. A giant crest? No, finely woven and discreet. The man's a real player.

Expect any day that your favourite club poser will arrive down for Saturday-morning mixed doubles in a ripping linen jacket and loudly claim never to have heard of this Swiss guy Federer.

The All England Club have taken on the new look of wall-to-wall retro and, eh, what a shocker that is. But the familiar ping off the Federer racquet and the same, lithe movement across the court were familiar and contemporary.

There was little about the top seed's 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 win over the unseeded Richard Gasquet that looked threadbare. If there is anything more chic-modern than the Federer look, it's his game.

It was to be a "tricky" first-round match for the player seeking to become the seventh man in Wimbledon history to win a fourth title. But it turned into a celebration, by demonstration of what he is capable of producing, as much as a contest.

A battle it was not, and even Federer afterwards could not recall a time when he has played better in a first-round match.

"It was one of the toughest draws I've had," he said. "To come up and play so well, I'm very happy. Maybe it was my best. I don't know, but it was up there."

Poor Gasquet cut a lonely figure. He has talent, but was made look younger than his 20 years. While Federer was winning the Hale grass court tournament in Holland prior to Wimbledon and equalling Bjorn Borg's 41-match winning streak on grass, the Frenchman was picking up the Nottingham title for the second year running.

There the comparisons end. After just 26 minutes on a raininterrupted day one, Gasquet was a set down. Yesterday the weather changed, the champion did not and Federer accelerated the run toward a round-two meeting with Tim Henman. After 25 minutes he was 2-0 up, and 21 minutes later the match was his and so was Borg's record.

Students of tennis history will point out that the great Swede won all of his 41 matches at Wimbledon, while Federer combined his Halle wins with his three straight Wimbledon titles. The streak is valid, but some opinion says Borg's run is the more impressive.

"Yeah, I do (agree)," said Federer. "Halle is not Wimbledon. It's best of three (sets). The five Wimbledons and then the sixth final is beyond the possibilities for any player. For me, obviously, he (Borg) stays a hero."

The reward for Federer is a meeting with Henman today on Centre Court. Those pessimists who have been observing the 31-year-old Englishman's equanimity and stoicism at Wimbledon in the face of absurd provocation over the past 13 years see the meeting as the local lad's best shot here of an honourable departure, given that his world ranking of 76 is the lowest it has been for 10 years.

The 7-6, 3-6, 2-6, 6-1, 6-3 win over the unseeded Swede Robin Soderling was easily taken after a stuttering start. But Henman positively spun when the draw was made and noted the best time to meet Federer is probably in the early rounds.

"I thought it was pretty routine as five sets go," he said with a straight face.

And what about meeting Federer in the next match?

"It's fantastic," said Henman. "It feels really good to be playing a match here at Wimbledon with really very limited pressure and expectation."

Andre Agassi also survived a shaky bout of nerves and after dropping the first set against Boris Pashanski took the match in four.

The 36-year-old is one win away from a possible third-round meeting with 20-year-old Rafael Nadal later this week.

Nadal did not look as comfortable as the number-two seed should in the face of a British wildcard, Alex Bogdanovic, ranked 135 in the world.

He won the first set 6-4, struggled for the second for over an hour before winning on a tie break 7-6, and finally nailed it 6-4 on Bogdanovic's serve in fading light.

Scotland's Andrew Murray impressively swept aside the 31st seed, Chile's Nicolas Massu, in straight sets, 6-1, 6-4, 6-4.