Roger Federer set his sights on equalling Pete Sampras' modern-day record of seven Wimbledon titles after completing a comfortable first-round victory over grass-court rookie Mikhail Kukushkin.

Twelve months ago, Federer had to fight back from two sets down in his first round tie against Alejandro Falla but he never looked troubled yesterday.

The Swiss third seed lost only two points from his own serve in the first set and then accelerated to a 7-6 (7/2) 6-4 6-2 victory over Kukushkin.

Federer will face Adrian Mannarino in the next round after the Frenchman eventually saw off Ireland's Conor Niland in five tough sets.

"Tying Pete in any stats means you're right up there with maybe the greatest, one of the greatest players of all times, and that's always a nice thing," said Federer.

"Winning Wimbledon alone without any records is amazing. I have just won my first match - there are six more to go. It was a good performance. I'm serving well, moving well. It's nice to win in straight sets."

Federer felt under less pressure at the French Open, where he reached the final, as Rafael Nadal was defending champion and Novak Djokovic was on an unbeaten streak.

Nadal and Andy Murray may have dominated the pre-tournament headlines - but Federer's desire to match Sampras' record means Wimbledon is different.

‘‘Everybody was talking about less pressure at the French Open just because of Novak and Rafa,'' said Federer.

"I can play with a bit less pressure here - but at the same time I want to do so well at Wimbledon because I've won the tournament six times.

"It feels like if things go well for me, I can go extremely far here.

"At the French Open I feel it's a bit more on other opponents' racquets - but here I feel it's a bit more on mine.

"That's why I'll always play with some pressure at Wimbledon just because of the occasion and what it means to me really."