LONDON -- As Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic were making their 2017 Wimbledon debuts on Centre Court, tennis should have been basking in glory.
Instead, the game and its fans got fleeced.
In front of a crowd gripped by the expectations that come from seeing the seven-time champion make his tournament debut, Federer and opponent Alexandr Dolgopolov ripped through a fast but competitive first set. True, Dolgopolov looked outmatched, as he has in all three of his career losses against Federer, but his quirky style flummoxed the Swiss on more than one occasion.