That would make her even more risky on a grass court.
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“It would be unbelievable if we get out there and I could play on Centre Court again”.
Safarova reached the semifinals at Wimbledon past year.
Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro became the biggest name to fall, the ninth seed thrashed 6-2 6-0 by Jelena Ostapenko.
“The first match of Wimbledon is never the easiest and especially against an opponent who has had a good few weeks and is a crowd favourite”, Sharapova said.
Solid start for Bopanna-Mergea Rohan Bopanna and his Romanian partner Florin Mergea began their campaign at the Wimbledon championships with a hard-fought win over Tim Smyczek and Jiri Vesley in the men’s doubles.
Novak Djokovic can’t seem to shake accusations that he and coach Boris Becker are cheating.
Eugenie Bouchard of Westmount, Que., and Vancouver’s Vasek Pospisil will play their first-round matches Tuesday. “But it’s all within the rules”. His recent trips to Wimbledon have also been chastening affairs, featuring losses in the second, first and fourth rounds.
French Open king Stan Wawrinka will take on Portugal’s Joao Sousa in Centre Court’s final match on Monday, while 2002 champion Lleyton Hewitt will open his last Wimbledon run against Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen.
Hewitt, 34, will be playing the All England Club for the final time before retirement after next year’s Australian Open.
The Swiss star has won two grand slams, but trails far behind fellow countryman Roger Federer, along with superstar Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Andy Murray when it comes to fame.
Federer added: “She’s a great talent”.
Federer is also looking for history at the All England Club.
Play is underway on Day 2 at Wimbledon. World No 1 Williams was warned for an audible obscenity when trailing 3-2 but soon transferred her aggression into some belting winners to overwhelm the world number 113. Can’t really play tennis like that, unless it’s like your best friend or your brother, whatever it is.
“Hopefully tomorrow when I get on the court I’ll be able to perform my best because that’s something that is going to be very much needed in order to win against Kohlschreiber”, said Djokovic, the Australian Open champion. “There is no doubt about it. I felt that for some days after it”, said Djokovic, who starts his title defence against Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber on Centre Court today.
John Isner’s serve is in fine form to start Wimbledon, where his career winning percentage is now back to.500. That would be their first Grand Slam meeting since Serena won the 2009 Wimbledon final, and their earliest matchup at a major in a decade. Still every time it feels like it’s a special occasion.
Venus Williams, whose seven Grand Slam titles include five at Wimbledon, could say the same about herself, including Monday’s 6-0, 6-0 victory over 36th-ranked Madison Brengle of the USA.
Serena Williams is going after her sixth Wimbledon title.
The Muscovite had a chance to shake up the second set when she had three break points at 3-1 down but Williams called on her experience to rescue the game. With each point she earned, Williams screamed louder and ferociously slammed the ball.
She has not lost at a Grand Slam tournament since.
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Belarussian Victoria Azarenka, the ex- world number one, beat Anett Kontaveit of Estonia 6-2 6-1.
