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Serena Williams and Andy Murray teamed up for an opening-round mixed doubles win at Wimbledon.
The Serena Williams-Andy Murray partnership had a winning start at Wimbledon.
The two former singles champions easily won their opening mixed doubles match, beating Andreas Mies and Alexa Guarchi 6-4, 6-1 on Centre Court on Sunday morning (NZ time).
The high-profile duo was met with a loud ovation as they walked on for Murray's first match on Centre Court since 2017. The two-time men's champion missed last year's tournament with an injury and is only playing doubles at the moment after having surgery on his hip.
It was the second match of the day for both players. Williams beat Julia Goerges in the third round of the singles tournament, while Murray and partner Pierre-Hugues Herbert lost in the men's doubles.
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TIM IRELAND/AP
Serena Williams admitted to nerves before her mixed doubles outing, but it all worked out fine.
They will play 14th-seeded Fabrice Martin and Raquel Atawo in the second round.
After warming up nicely with her 6-3, 6-4 victory over Goerges, Williams had admitted to a few nerves ahead of her mixed doubles clash, which had been postponed a day.
"I wanted to play mixed because I've played not even 15 matches, or just about 15 matches, so far this year,'' she said. "So I thought it could really help me.'
"There's such a buzz going around about me and Andy that I've gotten nervous now, I feel like I might have a little bit performance anxiety. I hope I can live up to the hype."
And it seems it went just fine, in a one hour and 16-minute first-up effort.
CLIVE BRUNSKILL/GETTY IMAGES
Serena Williams and Andy Murray embrace following their victory.
"It worked out well," Williams said. "We've never played together so it's always a learning curve. We take it very serious, so that's why we're in it."
Earlier, the seven-time Wimbledon singles champ accounted for Goerges, who she beat in the semifinals last year before losing to Angelique Kerber in the final.
Williams will next face No 30 Carla Suarez Navarro, who made it to the fourth round at Wimbledon for the third time by beating unseeded American Lauren Davis 6-3, 6-3.
Top-ranked Ash Barty also made it through to the second week in singles, winning her 15th straight match. The French Open champion beat Harriet Dart 6-1, 6-1 and will next face Alison Riske of the United States.
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World No 1 Ashleigh Barty eased her way into the fourth round.
Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, who a week ago wasn't even sure if she could hold a racket in her left hand, reached the fourth round at the grass-court grand slam for the first time since her last title at the All England Club in 2014, beating Magda Linette 6-3, 6-2 on No 2 Court.
Kvitova, seeded sixth, broke her opponent three times while never giving Linette a chance to break back even once.
The 29-year-old left-hander from the Czech Republic was attacked in her own home in 2016, needing surgery on her playing arm. She reached the Australian Open final at the beginning of this year but then pulled out of the French Open with an injured left forearm.
She only decided to play at Wimbledon at the last minute.
"So far it's OK,'' Kvitova said. "I'm really glad that I can play my game without any pain.''
Kvitova will next face Johanna Konta, who reached the Wimbledon semifinals in 2017. The 19th-seeded Konta beat 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, her fourth victory over the American in four matches this year.
No 21 Elise Mertens and Barbora Strycova also advanced.
In the men's draw, Federer's win over Pouille saw the Swiss great break a couple more records.
TIM IRELAND/AP
Roger Federer racked up a couple more records during his third round win.
The 37-year-old became the first man or woman to notch 350 match wins at majors, while also becoming the first player in the professional era to reach the last 16 at Wimbledon for the 17th time - surpassing the previous mark he had shared with Jimmy Connors.
Two-time Wimbledon champion Rafael Nadal defeated two-time semifinalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-2, 6-3, 6-2, in a Centre Court match that wasn't nearly as taxing as the Spaniard's second-round victory over Nick Kyrgios. He never faced a break point, broke Tsonga five times, and served out the match with an ace.
Also, No 5 Kei Nishikori, 2017 Wimbledon semifinalist Sam Querrey, No 17 Matteo Berrettini, Mikhail Kukushkin and Tennys Sandgren all reached the fourth round.
Sandgren beat 12th-seeded Fabio Fognini 6-3, 7-6 (12), 6-3 on Court 14, one of the smaller venues on the grounds.
During the match, Fognini said he wanted a bomb to explode at the All England Club. He later said his comments came in the heat of the moment because he was upset about not playing well and the condition of the grass.
"If I offended anyone, I apologise,'' Fognini said in Italian at his news conference. "That definitely wasn't my intention.''
Fognini is in a two-year grand slam probationary period after getting kicked out of the 2017 US Open for insulting a female chair umpire. He also was fined $27,500 NZ$41,484 at Wimbledon in 2014 for outbursts during a victory.
AP
