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June 30, 2015

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Djokovic, Serena in cruise control

DEFENDING champion Novak Djokovic and five-time women’s winner Serena Williams reached the Wimbledon second round yesterday as organizers boosted security.

Top seed 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 and goes on to face either 2004 champion Lleyton Hewitt or Jarkko Nieminen for a place in the last 32.

“This is the cradle of our sport,” said Djokovic, playing his first match since his defeat to Stan Wawrinka at the final of the French Open three weeks ago ended his hopes of completing a career grand slam.

“There is no bigger tournament in our sport than Wimbledon. It’s always a special feeling to come out here as defending champion. There’s always a few butterflies.”

Djokovic, also the 2011 champion, hit 12 aces and 36 winners past world No. 33 Kohlschreiber at the All England Club.

Williams, 33, bidding to become the first woman since Steffi Graf in 1988 to wrap up all four majors in one season, endured a nervy start, dropping serve and being warned for swearing, before completing a 6-4, 6-1 win over Margarita Gasparyan, the world No. 113 from Russia who has never won a tour 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 here,” said the top-seeded American after her 73rd Wimbledon match win gave her a second-round clash against Hungary’s Timea Babos.

In other early action yesterday, Spanish ninth seed Carla Suarez Navarro went down 2-6, 0-6 to Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko in just 52 minutes while Italian 24th seed Flavia Pennetta lost 3-6, 6-2, 4-6 to Kazakhstan’s Zarina Diyas.

Two-time semifinalist Victoria Azarenka, seeded 23, saw off Estonia’s Anett Kontaveit 6-2, 6-1 and seventh seed Ana Ivanovic breezed past China’s Fan Xuyi 6-1, 6-1.

In the men’s first round, Australia’s 26th seed Nick Kyrgios, who knocked out then top seed Rafael Nadal last year, eased past Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman 6-0, 6-2, 7-6 (6).

US Open champion Marin Cilic, the ninth seeded Croatian and a quarterfinalist at Wimbledon last year, got past Japanese qualifier Hiroki Moriya 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (4).

On the first day of the 2015 championships, security was stepped up in the aftermath of the weekend jihadist killings of 38 tourists in Tunisia, most of whom were British.

Spectators were subjected to the usual bag checks at the entrances, where police officers were visible around the perimeter and inside the grounds.




 

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