No worries for Djokovic, Sharapova; Somdev falls
LONDON: They walked on to Wimbledon’s Court One as two fellow 32-year-olds, but that’s where the similarity between Roger Federer and Paolo Lorenzi ended as the Swiss began his pursuit of a record eighth Wimbledon title with a 6-1, 6-1, 6-3 romp on Tuesday.
A year after leaving the All England Club as a shell-shocked second-round loser, Federer was back to his sublime best as he teased and tormented Italian Lorenzi with a heady mix of laser-sighted serves and stinging groundstrokes.
The fourth-seeded Federer served nine aces, saved all five break points against him and broke six times.
The only suspense came near the end of the match when Lorenzi saved five match points while serving at 2-5 in a game that went to eight deuces. Federer held serve in the next game, finishing the match with an ace.
The exhibition certainly won the approval of his coach Stefan Edberg, who whipped off his sunglasses soon after the start to get a better look at the elegant winners flowing off Federer’s racquet.
”I didn’t know about his record to be honest,” Federer said, adding that he never felt sorry for his opponent. ”I’m putting in my fair share of hard work as well and you feel like you deserve it,” he said.
After squandering five match points on the Lorenzi serve, the fourth seed finished it off with his ninth ace to set up a second round meeting with either Frenchman Julien Benneteau or Luxembourg’s Gilles Muller.
Meanwhile, for a set and a half, Rafael Nadal looked in danger of tumbling out in the first round for the second year in a row.
The left-hander dominating play on Centre Court was not the 14-time Grand Slam champion, it was 51st-ranked Martin Klizan of Slovakia.
But the top-ranked Nadal dug deep, scrambled for gets all over the court, slipped and fell and got up and still hit winners, pulling out a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 victory – the 700th tour-level match win of his career.
Next up for the two-time Wimbledon champion: Lukas Rosol, the hard-hitting Czech player who eliminated him in the same round two years ago.
Among other straight-set winners on a sunny day 2 at the All England Club were Australian Open champion Stanislas Wawrinka and French Open winner Maria Sharapova.
Tuesday’s victory was Nadal’s first win on grass in two years. He was upset by Steve Darcis in the first round here last year and lost to 85th-ranked Dustin Brown in a Wimbledon tuneup in Halle, Germany, two weeks ago.
In another mismatch on Court 1, Sharapova sailed to a 6-1, 6-0 win over British wild-card entry Samantha Murray, who ranks 242 places below the Russian at No. 247.
The fifth-seeded Sharapova, who lost here in the second round last year to Portuguese qualifier Michelle Larcher de Brito, is bidding for her second Wimbledon title – a decade after winning her first as a 17-year-old. She could face five-time champion Serena Williams in the quarterfinals.
Wawrinka served 18 aces and cruised to a 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 win over Joao Sousa of Portugal.
Novak Djokovic is usually considered one of the “Mr Nice Guys” of the tennis circuit, always game for a laugh and ready to applaud the winners flying off his opponents’ racquets.
It was just too bad that Kazakhstan’s Andrey Golubev failed to witness any of those qualities.
What Golubev was treated to was no laughing matter, as Djokovic took on the role of Wimbledon executioner, combining brutal force with deft touches to reach the second round with a 6-0, 6-1, 6-4 victory.
In some other results 13th seed Eugenie Bouchard of Canada – a semifinalist at the Australian and French Opens this year – beat Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia 7-5, 7-5.
Serena Williams got her Wimbledon off to a flying start against Anna Tatishvili, winning 6-1, 6-2.
Somdev out in marathon
Meanwhile, Somdev Devvarman battled hard for more than three hours but had to swallow yet another bitter first-round defeat as he bowed out of the Wimbledon Championships after losing his marathon opening match to 15th seeded Polish Jerzy Janowicz.
Somdev’s 6-4, 3-6, 3-6, 6-3, 3-6 defeat was his 10th first round defeat in his last 13 tournaments as he has been struggling since winning the Delhi Open in February.
In all three Grand Slams this season, Somdev has failed to cross the first round and it was against the same Janowicz that Somdev had lost a gruelling five-set opener at the Australian Open.
Nevertheless, Somdev was resilient throughout the contest and raised hopes of an upset against the world No 25, who struggled with his serve, sending down a staggering 19 double faults. (Agencies)