Serbia’s Novak Djokovic reacts after winning his men’s singles first round match against Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber on day one of the 2015 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Tennis Club in Wimbledon, southwest London, yesterday. Djokovic won 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. At right, Serena celebrates her win.
AFP/London
Novak Djokovic, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova reached the Wimbledon second round yesterday as 2002 champion Lleyton Hewitt’s 17-year All England Club career came to a bruising end.
Defending champion Djokovic enjoyed a 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 win over Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber with crucial breaks in the ninth game of each set.
But the world number one and top seed again found himself defending allegations that coach Boris Becker is using various means to coach him from the sidelines, a practice which is banned.
“I’m just trying to figure out what you want to achieve with this story. Do you want to say I’m cheating, my team? I’m really trying to figure out what’s behind this,” fumed the 28-year-old Djokovic.
The usually affable Serb added: “There are certain ways of communication which is encouragement, which is support, which is understanding the moment when to clap or say something that can lift my energy up, that can kind of motivate me to play a certain point. But it’s all within the rules.”
Djokovic, playing his first match since his defeat to Stan Wawrinka in the French Open final three weeks ago ended his hopes of completing a career Grand Slam, hit 12 aces and 36 winners past world number 33 Kohlschreiber.
He next faces Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen who defeated Hewitt 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-0, 11-9 in a four-hour marathon.
It was Hewitt’s last singles match at the tournament—and 44th five-setter at the majors—as he plans to retire after next year’s Australian Open.
“To beat him here when it’s my last time here as well, it’s tough to find the words,” Nieminen said.
Top seed Serena Williams, bidding to become the first woman since Steffi Graf in 1988 to wrap up all four majors in one season, endured a nervy start and was warned for swearing before completing a 6-4, 6-1 win over Margarita Gasparyan, the world number 113 from Russia who has never won a tour-level match in four years as a professional.
“It feels good so far. Just one match but it feels good just to be back here at Wimbledon. I’ve done so well here in the past so I’ll always have so many good memories,” said the 33-year-old American after her 73rd Wimbledon match win secured her a second round clash against Hungary’s Timea Babos.
Fourth seed Sharapova also reached the second round with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Britain’s Johanna Konta.
Sharapova, the 2004 champion, will face Dutch qualifier Richel Hogenkamp for a place in the last 32.
“I was quite pleased with the way things went. It was my first competitive match in about four weeks, so I just wanted to start off really strong,” said the Russian.
Five-time champion Venus Williams wasn’t to be outdone as the 34-year-old American took just 42 minutes to crush compatriot Madison Brengle 6-0, 6-0. Williams hit 29 winners to just two from Brengle, the world number 36.
But hers wasn’t the fastest win of the day as German 14th seed Andrea Petkovic needed just 38 minutes to see off Shelby Rogers of the United States.
Spanish ninth seed Carla Suarez Navarro went down 6-2, 6-0 to Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko in just 52 minutes while Italian 24th seed Flavia Pennetta lost 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 to Kazakhstan’s Zarina Diyas.
Two-time semi-finalist Victoria Azarenka, seeded 23, saw off Estonia’s Anett Kontaveit 6-2, 6-1 and seventh seed Ana Ivanovic breezed past Chinese qualifier Xu Yifan 6-1, 6-1.
In the men’s first round, Australia’s 26th seed Nick Kyrgios, who knocked out Rafael Nadal last year, eased past Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman 6-0, 6-2, 7-6 (8/6).
US Open champion Marin Cilic, the ninth seeded Croatian and a quarter-finalist at Wimbledon last year, got past Japanese qualifier Hiroki Moriya 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (7/4).
Germany’s Tommy Haas, at 37 years and 100 days old, and who first played Wimbledon in 1997, beat Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic 6-2, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 to become the oldest man to win a match at Wimbledon since Jimmy Connors (38 years 308 days) in 1991.
Japan’s fifth seed Kei Nishikori needed his lower left leg strapped before clinching a gruelling 6-3, 6-7 (4/7), 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 win over Italy’s Simone Bolelli.
Meanwhile Canadian seventh seed Milos Raonic, a semi-finalist last year, beat Spain’s Daniel Gimeno 6-2, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7/4).
FIRST DAY’S RESULTS
Men (1st rd): Novak Djokovic (SRB x1) bt Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 Jarkko Nieminen (FIN) bt Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-0, 11-9 Bernard Tomic (AUS x27) bt Jan-Lennard Struff (GER) 6-3, 3-6, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 Leonardo Mayer (ARG x24) bt Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS) 7-6 (9/7), 7-6 (7/3), 6-4 Marcel Granollers (ESP) bt Janko Tipsarevic (SRB) 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 Kevin Anderson (RSA x14) bt Lucas Pouille (FRA) 6-2, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 Marin Cilic (CRO x9) bt Hiroki Moriya (JPN) 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (7/4) Ricardas Berankis (LTU) bt Andreas Haider-Maurer (AUT) 6-2, 5-2 - retired Matthew Ebden (AUS) bt Blaz Rola (SLO) 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 John Isner (USA x17) bt Go Soeda (JPN) 7-6 (7/5), 6-4, 6-4 Santiago Giraldo (COL) bt João Souza (BRA) 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 Kei Nishikori (JPN x5) bt Simone Bolelli (ITA) 6-3, 6-7 (4/7), 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI x4) bt João Sousa (POR) 6-2, 7-5, 7-6 (7/3) Víctor Estrella (DOM) bt Benjamin Becker (GER) 5-7, 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 Fernando Verdasco (ESP) bt Martin Klizan (SVK) 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 13-11 Dominic Thiem (AUT x32) bt Dudi Sela (ISR) 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 John Millman (AUS) bt Tommy Robredo (ESP x19) 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 Liam Broady (GBR) bt Marinko Matosevic (AUS) 5-7, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 David Goffin (BEL x16) bt Horacio Zeballos (ARG) 7-6 (7/4), 6-1, 6-1 Steve Johnson (USA) bt Lukás Lacko (SVK) 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 Kenny De Schepper (FRA) bt John-Patrick Smith (AUS) 4-6, 4-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-4, 6-4 Richard Gasquet (FRA x21) bt Luke Saville (AUS) 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 Nick Kyrgios (AUS x26) bt Diego Schwartzman (ARG) 6-0, 6-2, 7-6 (8/6) Juan Monaco (ARG) bt Florian Mayer (GER) 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 Tommy Haas (GER) bt Dusan Lajovic (SRB) 6-2, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 Milos Raonic (CAN x7) bt Daniel Gimeno (ESP) 6-2, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7/4)
Women (1st rd ): Serena Williams (USA x1) bt Margarita Gasparyan (RUS) 6-4, 6-1 Tímea Babos (HUN) bt Petra Cetkovská (CZE) 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) bt Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) 7-5, 6-0 Sara Errani (ITA x19) bt Francesca Schiavone (ITA) 6-2, 5-7, 6-1 Aleksandra Krunic (SRB) bt Roberta Vinci (ITA) 6-2, 6-4 Venus Williams (USA x16) bt Madison Brengle (USA) 6-0, 6-0 Jelena Ostapenko (LAT) bt Carla Suárez (ESP x9) 6-2, 6-0 Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) bt Alexandra Dulgheru (ROM) 6-2, 6-1 Kirsten Flipkens (BEL) bt Annika Beck (GER) 0-6, 6-3, 6-4 Victoria Azarenka (BLR x23) bt Anett Kontaveit (EST) 6-2, 6-1 Belinda Bencic (SUI x30) bt Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL) 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 Anna-Lena Friedsam (GER) bt Vitalia Diatchenko (RUS) 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) bt Alison Van Uytvanck (BEL) 6-3, 6-2 Ana Ivanovic (SRB x7) bt Yifan Xu (CHN) 6-1, 6-1 Maria Sharapova (RUS x4) bt Johanna Konta (GBR) 6-2, 6-2 Richel Hogenkamp (NED) bt Qiang Wang (CHN) 6-4, 6-4 Zarina Diyas (KAZ) bt Flavia Pennetta (ITA x24) 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 Aliaksandra Sasnovich (BLR) bt Lin Zhu (CHN) 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 Andrea Petkovic (GER x14) bt Shelby Rogers (USA) 6-0, 6-0 Karolína Plísková (CZE x11) bt Irina Falconi (USA) 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 Coco Vandeweghe (USA) bt Anna Karolína Schmiedlová (SVK) 6-4, 6-2 Urszula Radwanska (POL) bt Edina Gallovits (USA) 6-2, 6-1 Samantha Stosur (AUS x22) bt Danka Kovinic (MNE) 6-4, 6-4 Lauren Davis (USA) bt Polona Hercog (SLO) 6-4, 7-6 (7/3)
Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE) bt Kaia Kanepi (EST) 6-1, 6-4
