Roger Federer got his Wimbledon title defence underway in exactly the way you would have been expecting him to - a classy straight-set win on Centre Court.

The Swiss maestro is aiming for his ninth title on the famous grass courts at SW 19 and entered the championships as the undisputed favourite to lift the title in a fortnight.

Ever since his first title way back in 2003, Federer has either been winning it again, or right up there challenging whoever it was that produced the performance of a lifetime to beat him.

Now, at the ripe old age of 36, the evergreen Swiss is still competing at the pinnacle of the sport, and if he does manage to secure that ninth title, it will be just another reason to call the greatest male player of all time.

However, former British number one turned commentator, Tim Henman, believes that Rafael Nadal, who enjoyed a scintillating clay court season, could be capable of beating Federer in London this year.

His reason for thinking that, while at first sounds a little strange, makes a lot of sense once he explains it further.

Henman believes that the heatwave that has engulfed the capital could favour Nadal over Federer.

“The weather conditions could favour Nadal a little bit,” Henman said in an interview.

“Courts are going to be as hard as ever and the ball is going to be bouncing higher so that could help him.”

He added: “The first final that I commentated on was 2008 and it was probably the best match I’ve ever seen.

“If you’d have said at that time that in 10 years’ time the two favourites were going to be Federer and Nadal, you’d have said ‘come on? really?’

“And I think that emphasises the point of how good they’ve been to stay at the top of the game and obviously win so much in the past decade.”

So perhaps Roger Federer will be the only person throughout the United Kingdom complaining about the glorious summer weather.

You can’t help but feel that it is going to take a lot more than a spot of sunshine to dethrone the king of grass at his favourite hunting ground.