Live Commentary: Victor Hanescu vs. Roger Federer - as it happened

Strawberries and cream, umbrellas, green grass, white outfits - it could only be Wimbledon. It's back!

Play has already begun in SW19 and while I'll keep you abreast with the big news as it happens, our main focus here is on defending men's champion Roger Federer.

The 31-year-old is the epitome of class in the tennis world. He plays the game with a graceful style matched by no other and is without doubt one of the game's all-time greats.

As mentioned above, last year Federer claimed his record-equalling seventh Wimbledon title by defeating home favourite Andy Murray in four sets. Recap that match here.

Away from Centre briefly and it looks like British woman Elena Baltacha could be going out before Federer even begins his match. Baltacha is already a set down and now 4-0 down in the second on No. 3 Court.

WHO? Those not too familiar with the tennis world might not recognise Federer's opponent Victor Hanescu. He's a 31-year-old (same age as Fed) Romanian who stands at 6'6" and has a mean service. He is currently ranked 49 in the singles rankings. His best performance in a grand slam was reaching the quarter-finals of the French Open eight years ago.

Incredible stuff on No.3 Court as Baltacha, serving to stay in the match, dominates opponent Flavia Pennetta at the net but somehow loses the point as the Italian swats a smash back past the Brit.

Federer is seeded three at this year's Championships, despite his success a year ago. Number one goes to Novak Djokovic while British hope Andy Murray is in at two. Four and five are filled by two Spaniards, but not in the order you would expect. David Ferrer is fourth with the man who beat him in the French Open recently, Rafael Nadal, seeded fifth. That all means that Federer and Nadal will meet in the quarter-finals if they make it that far.

OUT! The first British casualty is Baltacha as she crumbles 6-4 6-1 to Pennetta.

Another woman through is Serbian beauty Ana Ivanovic. The 12th seed has just seen off Virginie Razzano and you can read our summary here.

UPSET! The fifth seed in the ladies' draw is out as 19-year-old Puerto Rican Monica Puig downs Sara Errani 6-3 6-2 over on Court 18.

Back to Centre and here come Federer and Hanescu out to a rapturous applause on the main showcourt.

Today has to be one of the all-time best opening days at Wimbledon. We're going to see Federer, Murray AND Nadal.

On the women's side the two standout names are Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova. The former is soon to begin over on No. 1 Court and you can follow updates with Matt Domm by clicking here. (I'd open it in a new tab if I were you so you can follow this and that!)

WEATHER WATCH! Whenever it's Wimbledon you have to be wary of the weather. Looking up at SW19 you'll see a lot of cloud but not much menacing. There is a roof on Centre if the heavens do decided to open, but the forecast says that we're set fair for the day. Lovely jubbly.

Warm-ups over, it's time to get down to business. Third seed and defending champion Roger Federer faces Romania's Victor Hanescu in the opening match on Centre Court at this year's Wimbledon Championships. Here we go. Federer to serve...

"Let, first service," a tame start to Federer's tournament. He follows it with a big serve up the middle that Hanescu can only jab out.

A love hold for the Swiss as he shows impressive defence to stab back a deep Hanescu forehand, forcing an error from the Romanian. Federer finishes the game off with a nonchalant volley at the net when he was going in the other direction. The crowd love it. And so do I.

The court is yet to wear in properly at such an early stage and Federer appeared surprised at some of the sluggish bounces in that first game. He has three break points in the second...

BREAK! Goodness me, what a rally just before Federer breaks. The pair trade monstrous blows before the Swiss's half-volley loops out. He is certainly in the groove hitting wise and moves two games ahead as Hanescu skews at 30-40.

Points-wise it's Federer 12-2 Hanescu. The latest game is the easiest of the lot as he aces for another love hold.

A place in the Royal Box on Centre Court is highly sought after and Pippa Middleton is lucky enough to be sitting in the plush enclosure this afternoon.

Hanescu gets his third and fourth points on the board as first he dinks a delicate volley just over the net before Federer nets a forehand. 30-0.

The Romanian is on the board as he thwacks down a big serve and puts away the volley at 40-15.

Over on No. 1 Azarenka is also up an early break at 2-0 against Maria Joao Koehler.

"OHHH," woo the crowd as Federer tracks down a Hanescu drop shot and flicks a backhand straight back at his opponent who finds it too hot to handle. Another hold, this time to 15, as Federer hits in another first serve on the next that Hanescu can only block into the middle of the net.

Hanescu has definitely settled down after that Federer flamboyance early on. He has two points to pull it back to a two-game deficit as Federer slaps a backhand out.

A high, looping drop shot from Federer that you would expect Hanescu to track down. It's only just over the net though and the Romanian doesn't even bother going after it.

The flamboyance is back! Federer pulls the game back to deuce with some unerringly accurate length. Hanescu simply cannot handle the Swiss's forehand when it's like this.

A warm round of applause for Hanescu as he bullets down two big serves that Federer can't return. Can he somehow mount a challenge on the third seed's serve and break back?

Errrrm, no. It's another quickfire game for the Fed Express, wrapping it up with a composed forehand pass up the line.

We've only been going 20 minutes and already Hanescu is serving to stay in the set. He begins with another unreturnable serve. 15-0.

Nipping over to No.1 Court briefly and it's now 4-0 Azarenka against Koehler as she secures a double break.

First glimpses of some lacklustre tennis by Federer as he hits out on a couple of occasions before Hanescu wraps up the game with a backhand volley that clips the tape on its way up the line.

SET! Yet another love hold for the defending champion. He's looked absolutely supreme on serve and wraps up the set in just 24 minutes as Hanescu hits a running cross-court forehand just long on the baseline.

Koehler gets on the board as she gets one break back against Azarenka on No.1. Back on Centre and it'll be Hanescu to open the serving in the second set. If he can hold early and get ahead it could give him a boost.

It doesn't start brilliantly for the Romanian as Federer moves 0-30 ahead thanks to a forehand winner and Hanescu unforced error.

A classic serve-and-volley gets Hanescu on the board in the second.

BREAK! Snap goes the Romanian's serve as Federer breaks to 15. The seven-time champ is seeing the ball so well and almost always putting Hanescu under pressure on serve.

I think Federer is trying to set a record for shortest average service game time this afternoon. Tick off another love hold as the Swiss swats a forehand inside the sideline after failing with a challenge, the first of the match, on his first serve.

There's a juicy match over on No. 2 Court at the moment as Cypriot crowd favourite Marcos Baghdatis faces number 10 seed Marin Cilic. The latter has just taken the opening set 6-3.

DOUBLE BREAK! This is really rather good from Federer so early in the tournament. He makes it a double break in set two by putting away his 19th winner with a calm forehand up the line with Hanescu way out of position. You can't even get odds on a Federer victory any more.

Azarenka takes the first set 6-1 against Koehler over on No. 1.

Under a tiny bit of pressure at 30-30 on his serve, Federer plonks a tough forehand right into the corner to open up game point. He can't take it as Hanescu unleashes a return to the baseline that Federer can only hook out.

"Game Federer," declares the umpire as Hanescu can't get Federer's wide service back into play.

There's a bit of confusion as Hanescu challenges an out call and HawkEye takes a little while to load up before confirming that the Romanian did catch the tiniest bit of paint at the back of the line. Federer pulls it back to 30-30 with a classy 98mph cross-court forehand winner.

Hanescu gets on the board in the second by just about reaching Federer's drop shot and flicking it into the tape and getting the friendly roll over the net.

Both men are repping impressive first-serve percentages with Federer at 74% and Hanescu at an almost unheard of 85%. Unfortunately for the Romanian that's not the stat that wins matches.

Four more first serves for the defending champ and another love hold.

Federer doesn't let Hanescu get a love hold of his own as he saunters into the net to reach the Romanian's weak volley to put it away.

Hanescu doesn't let that get to him and trudges back to the line to serve an ace.

At 30-0 down you might expect Hanescu to give up the set but he's just played a sublime backhand pass to bring it back to 30-15.

SET! The Romanian is within inches of making it 30-30 as his up-the-line backhand lands just wide. Moments later it's set over as Federer slams down his third ace of the set.

Nasty moment on No. 1 Court as Azarenka slips and wails in pain. Will the Belarusian be able to continue? Keep up here.

BREAK! Three sets, three first-attempt breaks of serve for Federer. Hanescu just cannot get a foothold here.

One more love hold for Federer and he's already on his way to a double break in the next, 0-30 up...

And now three double-break points for Federer as he wrongfoots Hanescu at the net. We haven't played an hour yet!

DOUBLE BREAK! We might as well stop now but please no, this is just too good from Federer. It's another double break from the Swiss and this match could be over very very shortly.

Hanescu is already 0-30 down but he's just played one of the shots of the match, lobbing Federer from deep in his forehand corner.

It can't spark anything for the Romanian as he mildly nets a simple forehand. Federer now within two games of the match and a place in round two.

The crowd gets behind Hanescu as first he misses out on a HawkEye challenge by nanometres before getting the better of Federer up at the net. 15-15.

TRIPLE BREAK! Woosh goes another game and Federer will now serve for the match after pulling off an audacious backspin lob over the 6'6" Romanian. Federer grins a wry smile, you hardly ever see a backspin lob.

He's awesome at most things but challenging has not been his forte today. He gets another wrong as his serve just zips out.

Yes, it's the first round and yes, he was expected to ease past Hanescu but one hour and eight minutes is incredibly short for a three-set match. Scintillating stuff from the Swiss.

Only just joining us and don't want to wade through the updates below? Read our summary here.

NEXT UP! The draw will get a whole lot harder for Mr Federer and next up is Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine in the second round.

Federer says that it was an "absolute pleasure" to be back on Centre Court to BBC Sport.

It was a pleasure to see you again Mr Federer, no doubt about that. Don't forget, if the 31-year-old is to win a record eighth All England title then he might have to get past Nadal, Murray and then Djokovic. Gulp!

That's it from me today. What you should be doing now is clicking here to reach our hub of Wimbledon commentaries, reports and stories. Go on.