Raonic through to second round in straight sets

Last year’s runners-up were up first on the main showcourts at Wimbledon Tuesday and both came through in straight sets.

Angelique Kerber beat Irina Falconi of the U.S. 6-4, 6-4, while 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 before 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.

Meanwhile, Vancouver’s Vasek Pospisil lost 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 to eighthranked 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 Wimbledon champ, 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.

Roger 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 include 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. The 10th-seeded Alexander beat Evgeny Donskoy 6-4, 7-6 (3), 6-3, while 27th-seed Mischa defeated Bernard Tomic 6-4, 6-3, 6-4.

On Wednesday, Montreal’s Francoise Abanda will take on 13thseed Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia.