Wimbledon 2014: Serena Williams & Maria Sharapova power through
- Published
Former champions Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams both eased into the women's second round at Wimbledon.
Sharapova, the 2004 champion and fifth seed, beat Britain's world number 247 Samantha Murray 6-1 6-0 in 58 minutes.
Williams, the top seed and five-time champion, overcame compatriot and world number 113 Anna Tatishvili 6-1 6-2.
But seventh seed Jelena Jankovic, who partnered Jamie Murray to mixed doubles victory in 2007, was ousted in straight sets by world number 42 Kaia Kanepi.
The Estonian, who reached the quarter-finals last year, won 6-3 6-2.
Sharapova, who will next face Switzerland's Timea Bacsinszky, was pleased to be off to a flying start on the grass after finishing her clay-court season by winning her second French Open title.
"It's such a quick turnaround," she said. "You just want to be physically rested but also have enough preparation and practice going into Wimbledon; it's a thin line. But I've recovered mentally and physically."
Williams, who had beaten Tatishvili in their two previous meetings, was also pleased with her relatively comfortable progress.
"Last time I played her, she ended the match by making it really tough. Today, she started where she finished in that match. She can hit the ball really hard, but I was ready for that," she told BBC Sport.
"I fell so many times during the match, which was weird but it was probably just a case of getting my bearings. I didn't play much grass-court tennis last year. I think I'll be OK."
Lindsay Davenport on Serena Williams's win |
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"Once Serena got settled into the match and got through the first few games of her first grass court match of the season, she got so much better. A few times during the match, we saw her try to guide the backhand, but as she became more confident, she started to take a few more swings with it." |
Third seed Simona Halep of Romania made short work of Brazil's Teliana Pereira, winning 6-2 6-2, while the 2008 French Open champion and 11th seed Ana Ivanovic beat another Roland Garros winner Francesca Schiavone 7-6 (8-6) 6-4.
Former world number one Caroline Wozniacki beat Shahar Peer to set up a meeting with Britain's Naomi Broady.
The 16th-seeded Dane led her Israeli opponent 6-3 2-0 overnight and won four straight games on the resumption to go through.
"I don't really know much about her [Broady]," admitted Wozniacki. "So I'll have to have my team do a little bit of research and some scouting."
The 2012 finalist Agnieszka Radwanska and last year's runner-up Sabine Lisicki also progressed, as did Canadian 13th seed Eugenie Bouchard, the French Open semi-finalist.
Radwanska beat Romania's Andreea Mitu 6-2 6-1 while Lisicki defeated Israel's Julia Glushko by the same score and Bouchard was a 7-5 7-5 winner over former top five player Daniela Hantuchova.
"The first match is always tough and I was a bit nervous and probably didn't play my best tennis but I fought it out," said Bouchard, a former Wimbledon junior singles and doubles champion.
"Daniela is a really good player and she didn't give me many chances and I wasn't as aggressive as I probably might have been."
Lisicki opened proceedings on Centre Court after defending champion Marion Bartoli, who has subsequently retired, performed the coin toss for the match as part of a ceremony that included a tribute to the late Elena Baltacha, the former British number one who died from liver cancer in May.
"It was such a huge honour to play out there in the first match. I was very thankful for that and for the support of fans," the 24-year-old German said afterwards.
"It was a very special moment at the start; it was great to see Marion Bartoli out there and to have the chance to pay tribute to Elena Baltacha as well.
"When I stepped out on to court, I was quite nervous but the crowd helped me settled down. This is such a special place; it gives me confidence and I always enjoy playing here."
Ninth seed Angelique Kerber also went through to a meeting with Britain's Heather Watson after the 2012 semi-finalist defeated Urszula Radwanska of Poland 6-2 6-4 while unseeded American Madison Keys, who beat Kerber in the final at Eastbourne, made a winning start by overcoming Monica Puig of Puerto Rico 6-3 6-3.
Last year's semi-finalist Kirsten Flipkens needed six match points before the 24th seed beat Austria's Tamira Paszek 6-4 6-7 (3-7) 6-2.
One seed to fall was Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova, the 28th seed, who was beaten 3-6 6-3 6-1 by Michelle Larcher de Brito. The Portuguese 21-year-old upset Sharapova in the second round last year and reached the semi-finals at Nottingham earlier this month.
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