Switzerland star Roger Federer at the peak of his career won three grand slam titles in a year three times, each time falling short in the French Open.
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Twenty-year-old Margarita Gasparyan, a Russian making her Wimbledon debut, led 3-1 in the opening set but couldn’t sustain the early onslaught as Williams ran out a 6-4 6-1 victor.
Djokovic elected not to play any warm-up tournaments on grass prior to arriving in south west London but the 28-year-old defending champion quickly found his feet on the slick Centre Court turf against Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber. “This is the cradle of our sport, it doesn’t get any bigger than Wimbledon Centre Court“, he said. Kyrgios was two sets up in his 6-0, 6-2, 7-6 (6) win over the Argentine when he confronted umpire Mohamed Lahyani about a contentious call in the third set.
The 25-year-old Czech’s first SW19 triumph in 2011 ushered in a prolonged dip in form as she buckled under the weight of expectation, with opponents seizing that shot-to-nothing advantage against a new big gun in the game. In seven of the past eight years, She has failed to reach the quarterfinals at the All England Club.
‘‘I am privileged and honored to open this year’s Wimbledon Centre Court as defending champion. His first match is expected to be Tuesday; time and location to be determined.
Williams hasn’t played since winning her third French Open title this month, but she has been practicing on grass in preparation for Wimbledon. After the next point, a lineswoman trotted over to the chair umpire, who announced: “Code violation, audible obscenity, Miss Williams”.
Williams says that as the youngest of five children, she has always had to scrap and fight.
“That’s the match that I had wanted to win, but it didn’t happen, mostly because I lost to a better player that day. I cannot say I thought she would be that good!”
The Scot won Wimbledon in 2013, becoming the first British man to win tennis’ premier event in 77 years.
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.
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.
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“That’s not going to be an easy match, but I’m just going to focus on right now first”. “I didn’t know she was a qualifier”, she admitted. “But it’s all within the rules”.
One of her main rivals for the title will be Maria Sharapova, who famously beat the American in the final as a 17-year-old in 2004.
One ex- champion, however, bowed out on Day 1.
Serena Williams of the United States celebrates winning the women’s singles first round match against Margarita Gasparyan of Russian Federation at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London, Monday June 29, 2015.
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But an extra week between the French Open and Wimbledon this year has given him a mental boost. After a warm embrace with Nieminen at the net, Hewitt went back onto the court without his racket to acknowledge the loud ovation and wave to the fans.
