Muguruza opens title defence in style
Williams sisters also advance to second round
Spain’s Garbine Muguruza opened her Wimbledon title defence with a 6-2, 7-5 win over British wild card Naomi Broady yesterday.
Muguruza is bidding to reach her third Wimbledon final after winning last year’s title match against Venus Williams and losing the 2015 showpiece against Serena Williams. The two-time Grand Slam champion needed 88 minutes to see off world number 138 Broady on Centre Court.
“I’m back, it’s always good, I’m thinking to win and actually enjoy this time more,” Muguruza said. “I’m pretty happy with my serve and controlling the emotions. To be back in a Grand Slam is always difficult, so I’m excited with the way I’m playing.”
Third seed Muguruza, 24, faces Belgium’s Alison van Uytvanck or Slovenia’s Polona Herzog in the second round.
Konta rolls on
British number one Johanna Konta made hard work of beating 103rd-ranked Russian Natalia Vikhlyantseva 7-5 7-6(7) in her opening match.
Konta, a semi-finalist last year, lost control of a match she seemed to have in her pocket and was mightily relieved to escape a sticky Court Two with victory, having squandered five match points in the second-set tiebreak.
With Andy Murray missing, Konta, seeded 22, and men’s 21st seed Kyle Edmund are shouldering the hopes of the home nation — a burden Konta seemed to be handling well for a set-and-a-half against tricky 21-year-old Vikhlyantseva.
Earlier on Monday, Serena Williams picked up a victory in her first match at the All England Club in two years. Williams found herself in a bit of a jam against 105th-ranked Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands, down by a break in the second set on a windy afternoon. And then, a five-game run and 25 minutes later, Williams had completed the 7-5, 6-3 result.
“I have such high expectations of myself,” said Williams, whose 23 Grand Slam singles championships include seven at Wimbledon, so she was seeded 25th even though her ranking is 181st following an extended absence. “I don’t go out there expecting to ‘do well’ or ‘see what happens.’ That’s just not me.”
Still, Williams had her issues. She lost her footing and tumbled at one point. She got upset by a line judge’s mistaken call that led to the replay of a point she should have won but instead lost. She was down love-30 on her serve and trailing 3-1 in the second set after a run of 7 of 8 points for Rus.
“Almost,” Rus lamented later, “like a double-break.” Almost, but not quite. Williams came back to hold there and wouldn’t drop another game the rest of the way, dealing better with the wind that whipped this way and that at No. 1 Court and marking terrific passing shots with those customary cries of “Come on!”
Her sister, five-time Wimbledon champion and 2017 finalist Venus, had far more trouble across the grounds at No. 2 Court, slipping to the turf a couple of times and barely moving on with a 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-1 win against Johanna Larsson of Sweden.