Angelique Kerber’s affection for Wimbledon is a matter of record. What is not to like about The Championships, where she has already been a quarter-finalist (2014) and semi-finalist (2012)?

And all the signs are that the No.10 seed may again make deep inroads, if her performance in annihilating fellow-German Carina Witthoeft  6-0, 6-0 in 45 minutes on Court 18 is anything to go by.

Though they both come from the same area in northern Germany and are friends this was their first meeting, something for which Witthoeft is profoundly grateful.

Kerber is the highest-ranked of the nine German women in the world’s top 100, while Witthoeft entered Wimbledon with her highest-ever ranking of 53.

The fact that Witthoeft, daughter of two tennis coaches, double-faulted on the very first point of the match was probably an indication of nervousness and she went on to commit six more.

Witthoeft’s tennis idol is Maria Sharapova and she claims to model her game on her heroine, even down to a muted version of the renowned “Shazza shriek”.

None of which did her the slightest good against the vast experience of the 27-year-old Kerber, who was required to do nothing more than hit consistently to a length and keep the unforced errors to a minimum (five, against Witthoeft’s 16). Kerber sports a Porsche logo on her tennis outfit and her performance was of a similar high class.

Kerber said that she is probably in the form of her life, having won three titles this year, including her first on grass at Birmingham earlier this month. This equals her previous career total of titles. “I’m playing good tennis right now, that’s for sure,” she agreed. “But I’m still trying to improve every day. That’s my goal.

“I’m feeling good on the grass. Two weeks ago I won my first title on grass, so it’s good to come here with a grass title. The good thing is I have already had a lot of matches on grass, so I’m happy to be back here.” Future opponents are hereby warned.