Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray cruise in Wimbledon openers

Reporting from LONDON —  Three-quarters of the men’s “Big Four” did what they were supposed to do Tuesday at Wimbledon. They won.

Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray went through in straight sets and joined the fourth member of their exclusive club, Novak Djokovic, who did the same on opening day Monday.

Federer, a seven-time champion here, beat Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia-Herzegovina, 6-1, 6-3, 6-3, and was asked afterward what Wimbledon moment he recalled most fondly.

“I prefer the moment at match point, until I hold the trophy,” he said, “and until I see my team and family.”

Nadal beat Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil, 6-4, 6-2, 6-4, and was asked afterward, seeing as he has slipped to a No. 10 seeding this year, how his game was.

“I played OK,” he said. “Played well, played solid. Very good with my backhand.”

So where did that put him, confidence-wise?

“Second round,” he said. “That’s all.”

Britain’s Murray, always the man in a fishbowl here, beat Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan, 6-4, 7-6 (3), 6-4, and was asked — as the British press seeks any and every imaginable angle from him during Wimbledon — his feelings about the many Brits who died in the recent Tunisia beach massacre.

“I thought it was horrific,” Murray said.

Kvitova cruises; Halep out

It was also a routine start for defending women’s champion Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic, seeded second. She got the featured first match of the second day on Centre Court and made the most of it, beating Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands, 6-1, 6-0.

Third-seeded Simona Halep didn’t fare as well. The Romanian was upset by Jana Sepelova of Slovakia, 5-7, 6-4, 6-3. Halep went all the way to the semifinals last year.

The woman who beat Halep in last year’s semis, and then lost badly to Kvitova in the final, continued to struggle. Eugenie Bouchard, the Canadian who reached two Grand Slam semifinals and the Wimbledon final last year — but slipped all the way to a 12th seeding here — was upset by China’s Ying-Ying Duan, 7-6 (3), 6-4.

Bouchard is suffering from a torn stomach muscle and said she hopes that the break between now and the U.S. Open will help her heal.

Sam Querrey won for the U.S. men, but Tim Smyczek lost. And Christina McHale of the U.S. advanced on the women’s side.

Williams sisters drop out of doubles

Serena and Venus Williams, who have won 13 Grand Slam doubles titles together, withdrew from women’s doubles Tuesday, Serena saying she preferred to focus on her attempt at a fourth straight major title in singles. The women’s tour put out a note, saying the withdrawal was because of Serena’s “soreness.”

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