WIMBLEDON TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS

Barty, Kerber sail through

Ag AFP

LONDON: World number one Ashleigh Barty and defending champion Angelique Kerber eased into the second round of Wimbledon Tennis Championships on Tuesday.

Unlike second seed Naomi Osaka on Monday, who exited in straight sets, both Barty and Kerber disposed of their opponents with relative ease.

Barty beat China’s Zheng Saisai 6-4, 6-2 while Kerber, the fourth seed, beat fellow German Tatjana Maria 6-4, 6-3.

Barty did not have it all her own way in the first set being pegged back to 4-4 after leading 3-0.

Barty finally took the set in breaking Zheng on her serve at 5-4. The Australian made the break on Zheng’s first service game in the second set and was rarely troubled after that.

“The first round is always very tough and it took a little time to get used to the court,” said Barty. “It definitely took some time to adjust.”

Barty, who is bidding to become the first woman since Serena Williams in 2015 to win both the French Open and Wimbledon in the same season, said the weight of being number one did not affect her particularly.

“It is a bizarre feeling to be honest but I try and go about my business as usual,” she said.

Barty plays tricky Belgian Alison Van Uytvanck, who knocked out then defending champion Garbine Muguruza last year in the second round, for a place in the last 32.

“It will be an exceptional challenge and it will be important for me to be strong on my serve,” she said.

Kerber, who came into the tournament on the back of being the beaten finalist at Eastbourne last Saturday, looked to be cruising to victory when she broke Maria in the first game of the second set.

However, her compatriot fought back to break her in the next game after a long tussle which saw Kerber get increasingly annoyed by her errors.

Kerber, though, again broke in the following game a sweeping forehand crosscourt provoking her to a double fist shake and a yell of delight.

There were further breaks of serve but in the end Kerber came through safely.

In the men’s tournament, Nick Kyrgios claimed a 7-6 (7/4), 3-6, 7-6 (12/10), 0-6, 6-1 win over countryman Jordan Thompson.

Kyrgios, who stunned Rafael Nadal as a 144-ranked wildcard on his tournament debut in 2014, put in a typically raucous and charismatic display on Court 3 where he fired 23 aces and 63 winners.

Two-time French Open champion Dominic Thiem was knocked out of Wimbledon in the first round, losing to veteran American Sam Querrey 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (7/1), 6-3, 6-0.

The 25-year-old Austrian fifth seed does not find grass to his liking — his best showing reaching the last 16 in 2017 — and wilted under the expert serve and volley game of Querrey.

Querrey, a semi-finalist at Wimbledon in 2017, will next play Andrey Rublev of Russia or Cristian Garin of Chile.

Thiem joins fellow top-10 seeds Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Zverev in being toppled in the first round.

Japan’s Kei Nishikori eased into the second round after beating Brazilian qualifier Thiago Monteiro 6-4, 7-6 (7/3), 6-4.

The 29-year-old eighth seed, a quarter-finalist at Wimbledon last year, never gave Monteiro a hope of an upset.

Nishikori’s best Grand Slam performance was reaching the 2014 US Open final.

Meanwhile, Wimbledon’s famous Centre Court has been steam cleaned to kill off any nasty pests lurking beneath the surface, head groundsman Neil Stubley said Tuesday.

The All England Club first trialled steam sterilising in 2017 and is now rolling it out around the courts.

The technique involves covering the grass with polytunnels, drilling holes into the soil and blasting in steam, as the club adapts its practices in response to climate change and environmental concerns.

“We’re very conscious about pesticide usage now,” said Stubley. “We’ve started looking at alternatives to managing weeds, pests and diseases.

“We’re looking at steam sterilising as part of our annual maintenance of the courts. “As soon as you take that steam away, it’s just cold water. There’s no residual effect.”