Defending champion Petra Kvitova took just 35 minutes to reach the Wimbledon second round yesterday as the tournament sweltered in near record-breaking heat.
Second seed Kvitova raced to a 6-1, 6-0 win over Kiki Bertens, the world No. 138 from the Netherlands, on Centre Court.
Kvitova, also the 2011 champion, dropped just one point on serve and next meets Kurumi Nara of Japan for a place in the round-of-32.
Photo: EPA
“It’s great to be back on Centre Court and unbelievable to see all the people clapping,” said the Czech, who had been laid low by illness in the week before the tournament.
Kvitova’s only dropped point on serve came on a double fault in the final game of the match.
The powerful 25-year-old left-hander would have been relieved to have enjoyed a brief first-round outing as temperatures rocketed to about 30?C.
Photo: AFP
Joining Kvitova in the second round was 10th seeded German Angelique Kerber, who handed compatriot Carina Witthoeft a 6-0, 6-0 drubbing.
Kerber, a semi-finalist in 2012 and who won the Birmingham tournament on grass in the run-up to Wimbledon, took just 45 minutes to clinch victory, firing 21 winners past the world No. 53.
It was the third so-called “double bagel” result of the women’s first round, after Venus Williams of the US and Andrea Petkovic of Germany also won their first-round matches 6-0, 6-0 on Monday.
Photo: AP
Later yesterday, former champions Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray were to get their Wimbledon campaigns under way.
Second seed Federer, the seven-time champion, was to face Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia, who he beat at the French Open this year; 2013 winner Murray was to take on Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan, while Nadal, the 2008 and 2010 champion, had won the first two sets against Brazil’s Thomaz Bellucci as of press time last night.
Federer, bidding for his 18th major, said he is in the perfect condition to win Wimbledon for a record eighth time as the Swiss great bids to avenge last year’s painful defeat in the final.
Federer’s last appearance at the All England Club 12 months ago ended in the despair of a five-set loss against Novak Djokovic that left him shedding tears.
“If I look at last year, I see more the positives than actually the heart-breaking loss in the final,” Federer said, fresh from his eighth Halle grasscourt title last week. “It goes to show that last year, I wasn’t playing great and I made the finals. Whereas now I feel my game is better. I can really aim for Wimbledon this year. I feel like I see a big picture more now.”
Murray took a 2-0 career lead over world No. 58 Kukushkin into their opener on Centre Court.
Like Murray, Kukushkin is coached by a woman — his wife Anastasia.
Murray beat his rival twice in 2012 at Brisbane and then at the Australian Open in the fourth round.
That remains Kukushkin’s best run at a major, although he did reach the third round at Wimbledon last year, where he lost to Nadal.
Nadal is seeded at a lowly 10 this year, but went into his match with a 4-0 career lead over 27-year-old Bellucci, the Brazilian he also beat in the Wimbledon first round in 2012.
Serena and Venus Williams withdrew from the Wimbledon women’s doubles, a title they have won five times.
No immediate reason was given for the withdrawal, although both sisters are still involved in the singles tournament and could meet in the fourth round.
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