Djokovic Advances at Wimbledon as Venus Crashes out
Defending champion Novak Djokovic has won his opening match at Wimbledon by beating former No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-3, 6-3, 6-1.
In keeping with custom, the defending men's champ played the first match Monday on Center Court. Djokovic was broken in his second service game but held the rest of the way, losing only nine points on his first serve. He hit 13 aces.
The top-ranked Djokovic is bidding for his sixth Grand Slam title. He won three in a row before losing the French Open final to Rafael Nadal two weeks ago.
The only defending men's champion to lose a first-round match at Wimbledon in the Open era was Lleyton Hewitt in 2003.
In the women’s draw, five-time champion Venus Williams lost in the opening round of Wimbledon for the first time since 1997, falling 6-1, 6-3 to Elena Vesnina of Russia.
Williams lost the first five games and then saved two set points before making it 5-1. But she was broken for the fourth time in the next game as Vesnina clinched the set with a forehand return winner.
Williams put up more of a fight in the second but was broken in the sixth game when she missed a forehand. Vesnina clinched the match with a service winner.
Williams was making her 16th straight appearance at Wimbledon and had not lost in the first round since her debut.
Third-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland advanced to the second round of Wimbledon, beating Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia 6-3, 6-3.
Radwanska, who has twice reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, played the opening match on Court 2.
She will next play Vesnina.
Rybarikova took an injury time-out after slipping and falling behind the baseline while trailing 2-1 in the second set. She returned to the match with her left leg wrapped, but did not seem troubled the rest of the way.
Fifth-seeded Sam Stosur of Australia easily reached the second round of Wimbledon, beating Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain 6-1, 6-3.
Stosur raced to a 5-0 lead in the first set and earned an early break in the second, wrapping up the victory in 1 hour, 2 minutes when Suarez Navarro hit a forehand long.
Stosur won the 2011 U.S. Open but has traditionally struggled at Wimbledon, losing in the first round in the last two years.
Suarez Navarro was making her first appearance at Wimbledon since 2009.
Source: Associated Press
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