No. 1 Serena starts Wimbledon title defense with straight sets win

Wimbledon 2016 Day 2 results: Serena Williams beats Amra Sadikovic; Nick Kyrgios, Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka advance.

Author:
Jamie Lisanti
Publish date:
Jun 28, 2016

A recap of the action on Day 2 on Tuesday at Wimbledon 2016, including results, tweets, hot shots, photos and more.

Results Roundup

• No. 1 and reigning champion Serena Williams began her title defense on Tuesday, beating World No. 148 Amra Sadikovic 6–2, 6–4 on Center Court. On match point, Serena’s return was called long but she challenge it, and Hawk-Eye determined the ball was in. The victory marked her 80th win at Wimbledon as she aims for a seventh career title at the All England Club. Serena will also look to tie Steffi Graf's mark of 22 Grand Slam titles for the third major in a row.

"I think more or less about winning Australia, I think about winning the French Open. Didn't happen. I think about winning Wimbledon. I don't necessarily think about winning 22," Serena said after the match. "Mentally I've been further down than anyone can be. Well, maybe not anyone, but I've been pretty low. There's nothing that's mentally too hard for me."

In the second round, Serena will play fellow American Christina McHale, who beat Daniela Hantuchova 7-5, 6-2.

• The casual tennis fan’s guide to Wimbledon 2016

• No. 15-seed Nick Kyrgios advanced to the second round at Wimbledon for the third year in a row, beating 37-year-old Radek Stepanek 6-4, 6-3, 6-7 (9), 6-1. Kyrgios save two set points in the third set tiebreak but was unable to close it out and Stepanek forced a fourth set. But the 21-year-old Aussie came out firing and ultimately converted his fifth match point to advance.

In another must-see match, Kyrgios will play Dustin Brown, who beat Dusan Lajovic 4-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in two hours and eight minutes on Tuesday.

"That's another tough one. Especially on the grass," Kyrgios said of his second round opponent. "I think he just waits for this time of the year. He's a good friend of mine as well. When you're playing a guy like Dustin, you hope it's not a day when he's feeling it, he can't miss, he's enjoying it. When he's playing like that, we all know what he can do, what he's capable of....I'm ready to have fun out there with him."

Two Frenchman also advanced to the second round, as No. 12-seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga beat Inigo Cervantes 6-4, 7-6, 6-4, and No. 7-seed Richard Gasquet beat Aljaz Bedene 6-3, 6-4, 6-3.

• With story of Marcus Willis, Wimbledon brings surprises on Day 1

• No. 4-seed Stan Wawrinka advanced to the second round after resisting a strong effort from 19-year-old American Taylor Fritz 7-6(4), 6-1, 6-7(2), 6-4.

“It was really good to step on to the court, the atmosphere. I was really happy with the fact that…it didn't bother me. I wasn't nervous,” Fritz said after the match. “From this match, you know, I think I can't really just afford to play some sloppy points and sloppy games against such great players. They really take advantage of that, and they don't let you back into the sets after you kind of made a couple of mistakes. They really get you.”

Wawrinka’s win sets up a blockbuster second round against Juan Martin del Potro, who beat Stephane Robert 6-1, 7-5, 6-0 in his first Grand Slam match since the 2014 Australian Open.

• In the all-British battle, No. 2 Andy Murray prevailed, beating countryman Liam Broady 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 before the rain moved into the area.

"I hit the ball pretty clean today. I think offensively was good. You know, felt like I could have moved, you know, a little bit better. I didn't defend as well as usual," Murray said after the match. "But, you know, I served well, too. That was pleasing. Got a lot of free points on my serve. Served a pretty high percentage. Especially first two sets, didn't give him many chances on my serve. When I was in difficult situations, served well. So it was good."

• At Wimbledon, Andy Murray will set his place in British sports culture

• No. 13-seed Kuznetsova knocked out Caroline Wozniacki on Tuesday, winning 7–5, 6–4. Wozniacki will drop out of the top 50. Kuznetsova plays Moore next. The two former No. 1s played under the roof of Centre Court after inclement weather late in the day. Kuznetsova, a three-time Wimbledon quarterfinalists, held off a late push from Wozniacki, who was unseeded at a Grand Slam for the first time in eight years. With the loss, 45th-ranked Wozniacki will drop out of the WTA top 50 for the first time since 2008.

In the second round, Kuznetsova will play British wildcard Tara Moore, who beat Alison Van Uytvanck 6-3, 6-2 for her first Wimbledon win.

• 22-year-old American qualifier Dennis Novikov beat former junior champion Luke Saville 4-6, 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 on Tuesday, his first career Wimbledon victory.

• No. 19-seed Dominika Cibulkova knocked out a strong player in Mirjana Lucic-Baroni on Tuesday, winning 7-5, 6-3 to set up a second round match-up against another tough opponent, Australia’s Daria Gavrilova. The 22-year-old beat beat Qiang Wang 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 to advance.

• Wimbledon Day 1 results: Djokovic, Federer, Venus, Keys advance

• In the final match of the day, No. 27-seed CoCo Vandeweghe moved onto the second round, beating Kateryna Bondarenko 6–2, 7–6(3) under the roof on Centre Court.

• More results: Viktor Troicki d. Tristan Lamasine 6-4, 6-2, 6-2; Yen-Hsun Lu d. Alexander Kudryavtsev 6-4, 6-1, 6-4; Ying-Ying Duan d. Kristyna Pliskova 6-3, 3-6, 7-5; Albert Ramos Vinolas d. Vasek Pospisil 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4; Juan Monaco d. Taro Daniel 7-5, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2; Timea Babos d. Katie Swan 6-2, 6-3; Elina Vesnina d. Tamira Paszek 7-5, 6-2; Yulia Putintseva beat Marina Melnikova 7-5, 6-2; Benoit Paire d. Franco Skugor 3-6, 7-6, 2-6, 6-3, 10-8; Katerina Siniakova d. Pauline Parmentier 6-3, 7-5; Roberta Vinci d. Alison Riske 6-2, 5-7, 6-3; Roberto Bautista Agut d. Jordan Thompson 6-3, 6-3, 6-3; Mikhail Kukushkin beat Martin Klizan 7-6, 7-6, 6-4

• Due to inclement weather, only 33 of 65 schedule matches were completed on Day 2; 21 men's matches and 12 women's matches. On Wednesday, the remaining 12 men's matches and 13 women's matches will be played, including: Monica Puig vs. Johanna Konta; Fernando Verdasco vs. Bernard Tomic; Petra Kvitova vs. Sorana Cirstea; Agnieszka Radwanska vs. Kateryna Kozlova; Dominic Thiem vs. Florian Mayer; Eugenie Bouchard vs. Magdalena Rybarikova; John Isner vs. Marcos Baghdatis; Ivan Dodig (vs. Tomas Berdych; Horacio Zeballos vs. Mikhail Youzhny; Su-Wei Hsieh vs. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova; Donald Young vs. Leonardo Mayer; Evgeniya Rodina vs. Lesia Tsurenko; Ekaterina Makarova vs. Johanna Larsson; Anett Kontaveit vs. Barbora Strycova; Julia Boserup vs. Tatjana Maria; Albano Olivetti vs. Matthew Barton; Federico Delbonis vs. Fabio Fognini; Jiri Vesely vs. Igor Sijsling; Karin Knapp vs. Ana Konjuh; Alexander Zverev vs. Paul-Henri Mathieu; Lucas Pouille vs. Marius Copil; Andrea Petkovic vs. Nao Hibino; Gastao Elias vs. Radu Albot; Tsvetana Pironkova vs. Belinda Bencic

Hot shots of the Day

Tweets of the Day

The Day in Photos

WIMBLEDON DAY 2

Wimbledon 2016 Day 2

Dustin Brown

Christina McHale

Radek Stepanak

Richard Gasquet

Richard Gasquet

Nick Kyrgios

Taylor Fritz

Amra Sadikovic

Nick Kyrgios

Serena Williams

Dominika Cibulkova

Stan Wawrinka

Serena Williams

Serena Williams, Amra Sadikovic

Caroline Garcia

Cagla Buyukakcay

Liam Broady

Andy Murray

Roberta Vinci

Dominic Thiem

Tara Moore

Caroline Wozniacki

Svetlana Kuznetsova

Johanna Konta

Daily Data Viz

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The rankings of the ATP leaders in serve and return of serve have changed over last 25 years.