FOR YOU, SIS
Serena restores family pride with first-round win at Wimby
WIMBLEDON — Four-time Wimbledon champion Serena Williams returned Tuesday to the same Court 2 where big sister Venus was upset by Elena Vesnina a day earlier and restored family pride by beating Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic, 6-2, 6-4.
“It always has some sort of an effect,” Serena said of following up on Venus’ loss. “I always want to play even better if she’s out of the tournament,” Serena said
It was clear how much the match meant to the animated Serena, who screamed loudly in frustration after losing points and shouted “Come on!” and pumped her fist after winning big points.
Returning to the court where she won her first Grand Slam championship a year ago, Petra Kvitova overcame a shaky start and a late rain delay to open her Wimbledon title defense with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Akgul Amanmuradova.The fourth-seeded Kvitova fell behind 3-0 and 4-1 in the first set on Centre Court before running off seven straight games to take command against the player from Uzbekistan who is ranked 96th in the world.
“It was unbelievable to come back here as the defending champion,” said Kvitova, who beat Maria Sharapova in last year’s final. “In the beginning I think I was nervous — first match on the grass it’s always difficult to know what you can expect. I had a lot of mistakes and then I tried to play my game and go forward.”
Following Kvitova on Centre Court was two-time champion Rafael Nadal, and he found himself in an early hole just as she had. Nadal was down 4-0 in the opening set, but roared back to beat Brazilian lefthander Thomaz Bellucci, 7-6 (0), 6-2, 6-3. The Spaniard closed the match with an ace down the middle, his sixth of the day.
Play was later suspended for the day because of rain and poor light, leaving several matches unfinished. Three-time finalist Andy Roddick was leading Britain’s Jamie Baker, 7-6 (1), 4-2, on Court 1 when the covers came on. Tenth-seeded Sara Errani, run- ner-up at the French Open earlier this month, was holding match point in the second set when her match against American qualifier Coco Vandeweghe was halted.
Also advancing to the second round in straight sets was No. 2 Victoria Azarenka.
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