For Caroline Wozniacki, just winning a Grand Slam match these days would be nice.
The former world No. 1 player came into Wimbledon unseeded at a major for the first time in eight years and with a world ranking of No. 45, her lowest since 2008.
Faced with a tough first-round draw, the 25-year-old Dane departed quickly on Tuesday after losing to 14th-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova, 7-5, 6-4, leaving her without a Grand Slam match win this year.
Photo: AP
Wozniacki also fell in the first round at the Australian Open and missed the French Open with a right-ankle injury. Her overall record this year is 11-11.
“It has been a tough year in general,” Wozniacki said, taking a philosophical tone. “It has been some injuries, it has been some bad draws, it has been uphill, but you just have to keep fighting, keep going at it, keep working hard and hope eventually that is going to turn and you are going to take the chances you are going to get.”
Wozniacki played well against Kuznetsova, also a former No. 1 player. She pushed the Russian, but did not have enough to overcome her in a match played with the retractable roof closed over Centre Court because of rain.
“She played aggressively and stepped up when she had to,” Wozniacki said. “She did what she had to do today.”
Defending champion Serena Williams racked up her 80th Wimbledon victory, while Andy Murray also raced into the second round before torrential rain wiped out almost half the program at the All England Club.
World No. 1 and six-times champion Williams, bidding for a record-equaling 22nd Grand Slam title, battled to a 6-2, 6-4 win over Swiss qualifier Amra Sadikovic, ranked 148th in the world.
She is to face fellow American Christina McHale for a place in the last 32.
“I would be lying if I said that I feel fresh, but I do not feel fatigue. I feel real hungry, super motivated, extremely ready to do the best,” Williams said.
Murray, the 2013 champion, made a flying start to his bid for a second Wimbledon title as the world No. 2 crushed compatriot Liam Broady 6-2, 6-3, 6-4.
The 29-year-old brushed aside the world No. 235 and is to next play Taiwan’s Lu Yen-hsun.
“The first match is always tricky and it was pretty breezy out there at the beginning,” Murray said. “We have practiced together in the past. It is not easy playing someone you know, so I did OK.”
Swiss fourth seed Stan Wawrinka defeated American teenager Taylor Fritz 7-6 (7/4), 6-1, 6-7 (2/7), 6-4 to set up a second-round blockbuster against Juan Martin del Potro.
Del Potro made the second round by beating France’s Stephane Robert 6-1, 7-5, 6-0.
Nick Kyrgios, the Australian 15th seed, beat Czech wild-card Radek Stepanek 6-4, 6-3, 6-7 (9/11), 6-1.
He next faces German wild-card Dustin Brown, who got past Dusan Lajovic of Serbia 4-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
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Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
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