Murray fit and fine, eases into second round Venus fights off emotions and Mertens to advance
Topranked Brit beats lucky loser Bublik, Rafa Nadal powers past Millman in straight sets
LONDON: Defending champion Andy Murray celebrated the news that he’s about to become a father again by reaching the Wimbledon second round Monday as fellow two-time winner Rafael Nadal clinched the 850th win of his career.
Top seed and world No 1 Murray downed Kazakh lucky loser Alexander Bublik 6-1, 6-4, 6-2, shrugging off two brief rain delays and showing little sign of the hip problem which had plagued him in the build-up.
“I have felt OK the last few days and the adrenaline you feel by playing a match numbs any pain you may have,” said the British star after seeing off world number 134 Bublik who was making his grass court debut.
“Bublik is a bit of a character. He’s a bit different from other players, tries different shots and the crowd enjoyed the way he plays.”
Murray, whose baby daughter Sophia was born last year, next faces Dustin Brown, the man who knocked out Nadal two years ago.
German world number 97 Brown came back from a set and a break down to beat Portugal’s Joao Sousa 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-4.
INJURED NICK OUT
Nick Kyrgios, who shocked Nadal at Wimbledon in 2014, won’t get another opportunity.
The combustible 20th seeded Australian was 6-3, 6-4 down to France’s Pierre-Hugues Herbert when he called it quits on Court Three after failing to shake off the hip injury which has plagued him in recent weeks.
“I kind of knew I was in trouble. I have been feeling my hip ever since I fell over at Queen’s Club,” Kyrgios said.
“Never got it right. I was doing everything I could to help it, but just not enough time. Yeah, I mean, I just wasn’t 100 percent.
Kei Nishikori, the Japanese ninth seed, beat Italy’s Marco Cecchinato 6-2, 6-2, 6-0 in just 72 minutes.
French 12th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, twice a semi-finalist, eased past British wild card Cameron Norrie 6-3, 6-2, 6-2.
Sam Querrey of the United States, who stunned Novak Djokovic in the third round last year and precipitated the Serb’s slide from the top, also made the second round. The 24th seed saw off Italy’s Thomas Fabbiano 7-6 (5), 7-5, 6-2.
NADAL RUTHLESS
Rafael Nadal stormed into the second round, securing his 850th career victory with a 6-1, 6-3, 6-2 demolition of Australia’s John Millman on Monday.
Fresh from winning his 10th French Open title last month, Nadal marked his 50th match at Wimbledon by crushing Millman in one hour and 46 minutes on Court One.
The two-time Wimbledon champion is just the seventh player to reach the 850-win mark, joining Roger Federer, Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl, John McEnroe, Andre Agassi and Guillermo Villas. With 217 Grand Slam match victories, Nadal is now in sixth place on the all-time list at the majors.
Nadal, seeded to face defending champion Andy Murray in the semi-finals, will play Donald Young for a place in the last 32 as he bids to win Wimbledon for the first time since 2010.
LONDON:Venus Williams was able to focus on Wimbledon despite her involvement in a recent fatal car crash as the five-time champion beat Elise Mertens 7-6 (7), 6-4 in the first round on Monday.
Williams is being sued by the estate of an elderly Florida man who died last month after his vehicle was hit by a car driven by the American star.
The world number 11 put the horror crash to one side as she advanced to the second round, where she will face China’s Wang Qiang.
Making her first appearance in the Wimbledon main draw, Mertens, 21, was just one when Venus made her Wimbledon debut in 1997.
Mertens, ranked 54th, was playing only her fifth career Grand Slam match, while Williams is a seven-time Grand Slam winner and reached the Wimbledon semi-finals last year. Despite that vast gulf in experience, Mertens wasn’t overwhelmed and put up a good fight in the straight-sets loss. Two-time champion
PETRA PROGRESSES Petra Kvitova made a victorious return after the knife attack that threatened to end her career.
In December she suffered severe injuries to her left playing hand while fighting off a knifewielding burglar at her home in a terrifying assault.
The world No 12 had a relatively tough first round opponent in Sweden’s Johanna Larsson, ranked No 53.
But the Czech number two triumphed 6-3, 6-4 in a match on
Centre Court.
“I felt the energy from the crowd and it was amazing to be back here at Wimbledon and playing on the beautiful Centre Court,” Kvitova said.
Women’s second seed Simona Halep, blasted off court in the French Open final by Jelena Ostapenko, downed New Zealand qualifier Marina Erakovic 6-4, 6-1.
Halep, a Wimbledon semi-finalist in 2014, next faces Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maria.