Kerber shows glimpses of her return to form
London: Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic barely had to break sweat to make winning starts at Wimbledon as their injury-hit opponents retired hurt Tuesday from their first round matches.
Federer is chasing a record eighth Wimbledon title and he was already well on top at the start of his 19th All England Club campaign when Alexandr Dolgopolov was forced to quit with an ankle injury. The No. 3 seed was leading 6-3, 3-0 on Centre Court when the Ukrainian limped off. In the process Federer also hit his 10,000th career ace.
“It feels great to be back on Centre Court,” said Federer, who recorded his 85th match win at Wimbledon, passing the mark he shared with Jimmy Connors.
Djokovic, a three-time Wimbledon champion, was leading 6-3, 2-0 when Slovakian World No. 47 Martin Klizan retired after just 40 minutes on Centre Court due to a calf problem.
It was the kind of trouble-free first round Djokovic would have been hoping for after the most turbulent period of his career, the 12-time Major winner losing in the Australian Open second round and the French Open quarterfinals.
With defending champion Serena Williams sidelined while she prepares to give birth to her first child, the race to win the women’s title is the most wide open in a generation.
World No.1 Angelique Kerber, who has been patchy off late, however showed glimpses of her return to form with a 6-4, 6-4, win over American qualifier Irina Falconi 6-4, 6-4 in 87 minutes on Centre Court.
“I’m happy to be back, but this year is completely different for me. I’m just happy I’m through the first round,” Kerber, who lost last year’s final to Serena, said.
In other men’s singles matches Milos Raonic advanced with a 7-6(7/5), 6-2, 7-6(7/4) win against Jan-Lennard Struff while Argentina’s Juan Martin Del Potro defeated Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(7/2), 6-4. French 22nd seed Richard Gasquet slumped to a 3-6, 4-6, 7-5, 2-6 loss against Spain’s David Ferrer.
In the women’s draw, Karolina Pliskova underlined why she is the bookmakers’ favourite to win Wimbledon as the World No. 3 crushed Evgeniya Rodina 6-1, 6-4.
