Federer has reached the tournament final each of the past seven years, but on Monday he barely survived the ceremonial opening match on Center Court as defending champion.

Falla, ranked 60th, had lost all 11 sets in his previous four matches against Federer, but the Colombian played brilliant tennis to take charge of the match early. The turnaround came in the fourth set with Falla serving for the match and three points from victory, when Federer broke for only the second time.