Federer, Sharapova and Azarenka Easily Advance in Opening Round Wimbledon Action

June 24, 2013 | By Erin Brown
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Photo credit: Kenneth B. Goldberg

Not surprisingly, Roger Federer won his first round match at Wimbledon with a straight sets victory over Victor Hanescu on Centre Court. In a match that lasted just over an hour, Federer had an easy win over Hanescu with a score of 6-3, 6-2, 6-0. 

"I’ve won it (Wimbledon) a few times now but it still feels special," Federer told the BBC. "I still enjoy myself in the first round and it’s a pleasure playing on Centre Court again this year. I thought it was a good first round for me. I’m very happy, conditions are pretty cold but it releases some of the pressure now."

Federer came out attacking the ball and broke his opponent, causing Hanescu to go down 3-0 in the opening set. Federer was in excellent form, with his shots consistently finding the lines, while his opponent strived to stay in the match. Hoping to be the first man to win eight Wimbledon titles, Federer still has six more matches to win. His next opponent is Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine.

Putting the Twitter war against Serena Williams aside, Maria Sharapova remains undefeated in first round matches at Wimbledon by winning her match against Kristina Mladenovic of France 7-6 (5), 6-3. Wimbledon is the site of Sharapova’s first Grand Slam title, and she struggled through the first set before making a cross-court backhand winner to give her a set point

The Sharapova-Williams Twitter conflict began when Sharapova criticized Serena for a comment she made in recent article of Rolling Stone Magazine. Serena has a winning record against Sharapova, and she has won 13 of their last head-to-head matches, the last one being this year’s French Open final a few weeks ago.

World number two Victoria Azarenka won her first round match against Maria Joao Koehler 6-1, 6-2, but she took a tumble on the road to victory. She slipped behind the baseline and almost did a split trying to reach the shot. Azarenka is known for her on-court shrieks, so her shriek of agony was thought, at first, to just be her typical accompaniment to her shot-making. She received treatment before taking a medical timeout. She came back on to the court with her knee taped up and double-faulted twice before surrendering that game. Koehler was not able to take advantage of her opponent’s injury and made errors, which ultimately gave Azarenka the win.


Erin Brown
Intern

Erin Brown is an intern at Long Island and New York Tennis Magazine. She graduated from George Washington University with a degree in English, where she was also a member of the Club Tennis team. She may be reached by e-mail at erinb@litennismag.com.

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