Raonic, Kerber ace openers
2016 runners-up given top billing on event’s second day
LONDON — Last year’s runners-up were up first on the main showcourts at Wimbledon on Tuesday and both came through in straight sets.
Angelique Kerber beat Irina Falconi of the United States 6-4, 6-4.
“A lot of memories came back when I walk on the Centre Court,” Kerber said. “Playing there again, it’s one of the best courts to play. It’s traditional, so it was really great to being back.”
Kerber stepped in to the opening spot on Centre Court on Day 2 in place of Serena Williams, the defending champion who is out for the rest of the season because she is pregnant.
Although Kerber became the first woman seeded No. 1 in the professional era to lose in the first round of the French Open, she made it through to the second round on the grass.
“Playing first rounds in Grand Slams are always tough, especially with my first-round match that I lost in Paris,” Kerber said. “I was actually just thinking about point by point, trying to finding my rhythm during the whole match.”
Meanwhile, Canada’s Milos Raonic turned back Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany 7-6 (5), 6-4, 7-6 (4).
Raonic, from Thornhill, Ont., came into Wimbledon after playing only one match on grass, a firstround loss at Queen’s. The last time he failed to win a match on grass prior to Wimbledon, in 2014, he reached the semifinals.
Last year he did even better than that, reaching the final at the All England Club and losing to Andy Murray in straight sets.
Vancouver’s Vasek Pospisil lost 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 to eighth-ranked Dominic Thiem of Austria, while Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ont., fell 6-4, 6-3 to Slovakia’s Kristina Kucova.
Novak Djokovic, a three-time champion at the All England Club, didn’t even need three sets to advance. He reached the second round when opponent Martin Klizan retired from the match in the second set.
The victory put Djokovic alone into second place on the list of Grand Slam match wins, one ahead of Jimmy Connors, with 234. Roger Federer, who followed with his first-round match on Centre Court, leads the list with 314.
Federer’s record-breaking 85th match win at Wimbledon did not require much work as his opponent, Alexandr Dolgopolov, stopped in the second set with an injury.
Juan Martin del Potro needed seven match points, but he also advanced, beating Thanasi Kokkinakis 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 (2), 6-4.
Other winners included 2015 Wimbledon finalist Garbine Muguruza among the women and 15th-seeded Gael Monfils among the men.
German brothers Alexander and Mischa Zverev became the first seeded brothers to reach the second round in singles at Wimbledon in 35 years. Tenth-seeded Alexander beat Evgeny Donskoy 6-4, 7-6 (3), 6-3, while 27th-seeded Mischa defeated Bernard Tomic 6-4, 6-3, 6-4.
On Wednesday, Montreal’s Francoise Abanda will take on 13th-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia.