Wimbledon 2021: How to Watch Roger Federer First-Round Match, Live Stream

Roger Federer's quest to reclaim the all-time record for Grand Slam singles titles begins on Tuesday, when the Swiss takes on France's Adrian Mannarino in the first round at Wimbledon.

Federer last won a Grand Slam title when he claimed the Australian Open in 2018 and 2020 saw Rafael Nadal draw level with his all-time record of 20 major titles, after the Spaniard triumphed at the French Open.

Nadal's hopes of overtaking Federer at the Roland Garros in 2021 vanished as he lost against world No. 1 Novak Djokovic in an epic semifinal earlier in June.

The Serb went on to win the French Open and could equal his rivals' record should he triumph at Wimbledon, where he arrives as the tournament favorite to defend the title he won two years ago—the oldest of the four Grand Slams was canceled in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Federer, meanwhile, is a 10-1 outsider to add to his record eight Wimbledon titles, the last of which came four years ago.

Despite being less than two months short of his 40th birthday, and still recovering from a knee injury that required two surgeries and kept him out of action in Grand Slam tournaments for 16 months, the Swiss was upbeat ahead of the tournament.

"I'm ready, I'm excited, I'm pumped up. I know I can do so much better," Federer, the No. 6 seed, said in a press conference earlier this week, as per ATP.com.

"I think I've got to take the positives out of these last few weeks, that I'm actually here at Wimbledon right now and I have a chance.

"I know if I get rolling, I get into the second week—which is the goal here right now, that I get stronger and stronger as every match goes by—I believe it's very much possible."

The good news for Federer is that three of the top-five ranked players in the world are already out of the tournament before he steps on court on Tuesday.

Earlier in June, Nadal opted to pull out of Wimbledon to rest after a grueling clay-court season, while world No. 5 Dominic Thiem had to withdraw with a wrist injury.

Meanwhile, world No. 4 Stefanos Tsitsipas suffered a shock straight-set defeat against unseeded American Frances Tiafoe on the first day of the tournament.

The world No. 41, Mannarino has never made it past the fourth round at Wimbledon and has lost all his six previous meetings with Federer, including at Wimbledon in 2012 and 2018.

Here's all you need to know ahead of Tuesday.

How to watch Wimbledon on TV

Coverage on Tuesday begins at 6 a.m. ET on ESPN and runs until 11:30 a.m. ET, before switching to ESPN2 from 11:30 a.m. ET until 4:30 p.m. ET.

How to watch Wimbledon online

Fans can watch the action online via ESPN3, ESPN+ as well as via the WatchESPN app. The tournament will also be available via streaming services like fuboTV and Sling TV, which carry ESPN channels.

When does Roger Federer play next?

Federer and Mannarino headline the early afternoon session on Centre Court, with their match due to begin approximately at 2:45 p.m. local time (9:45 a.m. ET).

As ever, the start time is indicative and could change depending on the length of the preceding matches.

Wimbledon first round schedule

Aside from Federer, a host of other top seeds are in action on Tuesday. World No. 2 Daniil Medvedev plays Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff at 11:15 a.m. ET, while world No. 6 Alexander Zverev takes on the Netherlands' Tallon Griekspoor at 8 a.m. ET.

No. 18 seed Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria faces Spain's Fernando Verdasco at 8:30 a.m. ET, while No. 31 seed Taylor Fritz takes on Brandon Nakashima in an all-American affair at 9:15 a.m., and No. 32 seed Marin Cilic, the 2014 U.S. Open winner, plays Italy's Salvatore Caruso at the same time.

Elsewhere, Sam Querrey of the U.S. is up against Spain's Pablo Carreno Busta, the No. 11 seed, at 11:25 a.m. ET.

Nine U.S. players, including Coco Gauff and Serena Williams, are in action in the women's tournament.