Djokovic won the match 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. Jennifer Capriati came close, winning the Australian and French Opens in 2001, but by winning Wimbledon that year, Venus Williams stopped her from accomplishing the milestone. I had one of the best season starts in my career.
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“To beat him here when it’s my last time here as well, it’s tough to find the words”, Nieminen said.
Women’s top seed Serena Williams, the five time champion and bidding for a calendar Grand Slam, gets her 16th Wimbledon started on Court One against Russia’s Magarita Gasparyan, the world number 113. This is the cradle of our sport, Centre Court.
Williams, who played the opening match on Court 1, is seeking to become the first player since Steffi Graf in 1988 to complete a calendar-year Grand Slam, a sweep of all four major titles in the same season.
The aggression and power of Williams and her older sister Venus as they dominated tennis from 2000 onwards eclipsed the deft precision play of the smaller-built Hingis. After the next point, a lineswoman trotted over to the chair umpire, who announced: “Code violation, audible obscenity, Miss Williams”.
But Williams was able to impose herself on an opponent making her Wimbledon debut. “I think since three years now, I feel really good”, Wawrinka said Saturday. Hewitt, the 2002 champion, is playing Wimbledon for the final time. In the rest of the top 10, David Ferrer has a best of a last-eight spot as does United States Open champion Marin Cilic while Milos Raonic, who recently underwent foot surgery was a semi-finalist in 2014. “He’s so nice to let us use his courts”.
“When Serena is playing well, it is very hard to beat her. She won in Roland Garros, that probably was the most hard one for her. She has the right game to play well in Wimbledon”.
“Why not?” said Williams’ coach, Patrick Mouratoglou. “I feel like I see a big picture more now”. But its all within the rules..
Maria Sharapova, the 2004 champion at the All England Club, will be up against Johanna Konta of Britain in the main stadium. She also was the runner-up twice.
One ex- champion, however, bowed out on Day 1.
Meanwhile organisers say a heat rule, which allows for a 10-minute break between the second and third sets of women’s matches, could be used Wednesday when temperatures are expected to surge to around 35C on Wednesday.
The 34-year-old Hewitt has said he will retire after next years Australian Open.
He goes into the match without any competitive warm up game.
When play begins at the grass-court Grand Slam tournament Monday, Williams will be ranked No. 1, and seeded No. 1, and there is zero doubt that she is far and away the best tennis player on the planet at the moment. Wawrinka could face Djokovic in the semifinals.
The Slovakian team of Dominika Cibulkova and Anna Karolina Schmiedlova also pulled out of the doubles at Wimbledon on Tuesday.
In the men’s first round, Australia’s 26th seed Nick Kyrgios, who knocked out Rafael Nadal previous year, eased past Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman 6-0, 6-2, 7-6 (8/6). The 25-year-old Belarusian reached the last-four stage in 2011 and 2012, and overwhelmed Estonian Anett Kontaveit 6-2 6-1 in just 57 minutes on Court 12.
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World number six Tomas Berdych was runner-up in 2010 but has since only made the quarterfinals on one occasion.
