Roger Federer cruised cruised into the third round, while three-time runner-up Andy Roddick notched an opening-round victory Wednesday at Wimbledon.Playing in front of Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, the third-seeded Federer, a six-time Wimbledon champion, gained a 6-1, 6-3, 6-2 victory over Italian Fabio Fognini on the famed Centre Court. The super Swiss fired 13 aces and needed 1 hour, 14 minutes to swiftly advance to the next round, where the 16-time major champ will meet either 29th-seeded Frenchman Julien Benneteau or American journeyman Michael Russell on the hallowed lawns at the All England Club.The Prince of Wales, who applauded Federer after his Day-3 victory, had not attended Wimbledon since 1970.Federer also kept up his incredible second-round streak, having never lost in that round at a Grand Slam. The last time he failed to reach the third round at a major was when he fell in the opening round at the 2003 French Open.The 30-year-old Federer is in a bid to tie William Renshaw and Pete Sampras' record of seven Wimbledon titles, but his last major championship came in 2010 at the Australian Open.
Andy Roddick snuffed out Jamie Baker's Wimbledon dreams as the American finished off the plucky Scot in three sets.Resuming a set and a break up after a rain delay from yesterday, Roddick clinched the second set of this first-round match with ease before edging a nervy third to run out a 7-6 (7/1) 6-4 7-5 winner.Despite losing in straight sets, Baker, who was diagnosed with a deadly blood disorder four years ago, will take heart from his performance.The 25-year-old was Roddick's equal for much of the encounter, trading powerful blows with the three-time champion to earn five break points that he could not ultimately convert.Baker, ranked 161 places below Roddick, started off confidently when the players returned to Court One this evening, but he could not prevent the American moving 2-0 ahead, the 30-year-old clinching the set with a fine ace.Baker double-faulted but still managed to hold his serve at the start of the deciding set and the Glaswegian then engineered a break point in the fourth game.He was unable to convert it, though, clearing the baseline after a powerful serve from Roddick.The British number three had another two break points in Roddick's following service game but his opponent upped his game and used all his experience to see off the threat to leave the set at 3-3.Roddick moved in for the kill in the ninth game but Baker dug deep and survived three break points, much to the delight of the partisan crowd.Baker offered Roddick a break point in the 11th game after going long with a forehand and the Scot collapsed under pressure, failing with a cheeky drop shot after a long rally.Serving for the match, Roddick showed his class by holding to love to set up a second-round clash with 19th seed Kei Nishikori.
Rising Canadian phenom Raonic needed only 80 seconds to advance on Wednesday at Wimbledon after his match was suspended on Tuesday night.Raonic, of Thornhill, Ont., downed Colombian Santiago Giraldo 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 and will face American Sam Querrey, who eliminated fellow Canadian Vasek Pospisil on Tuesday.
Heather Watson UK's 10 year Wimbledon wait, she admits she is happy to endure more sleepless nights if it means she can continue her fairytale run at Wimbledon.Watson ended Britain's 10-year wait to have a woman in the third round at Wimbledon as the youngster swept to a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Jamie Hampton of the United States on Wednesday.For the first time since Elena Baltacha made it to the last 32 at the All England Club back in 2002, there will be a British female presence late in the first week.It is uncharted terrority for Watson, whose reward for reaching the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time is a clash against third seed Agnieszka Radwanska or Elena Vesnina who put out Venus Williams in the first round.The only downside of the success for Watson has been a lack of sleep caused by anxiety before her matches and a rush of adrenaline afterwards."This whole week I've been sleeping pretty bad. Actually last night wasn't great either. But if I keep playing like this, I don't really mind," she said."As soon as that last point was over, it's kind of like an explosion of happiness and relief."All that tension's gone. I just love when the crowd is so loud at the end. It's an amazing feeling. That's why I play tennis, for those moments."When Watson came off court she wasn't aware of the historic nature of her achievement, but -- with British female success so rare -- it didn't take long before she was made aware by legions of well wishers."I was completely unaware. I don't really look or think about things like that. I just focus on myself and my next match," Watson said."But as soon as I come off the court, everybody seems to let me know all the previous stats. I've been told about five times already."The joyous back-slapping was a stark contrast to Watson's 2011 Wimbledon campaign, which ended with her in tears during a press conference as she struggled to come to terms with an arm injury that allowed Mathilde Johansson to come from a set down to win their first round match."Last year I was feeling really down and right now I'm feeling pretty good," she said."It was tough last year because I was winning the match and then I got injured early in the second set."It was horrible for that to happen in basically my biggest tournament of the year, but it's turned out for the better this year."Watson, ranked 103rd, showed impressive poise on Monday when she demolished the higher ranked Iveta Benesova to become the first British woman to win on Centre Court since Jo Durie in 1985.The 20-year-old picked up where she left off against Hampton with another formidable effort, this time out on Court Two.Watson broke the world number 100 twice en route to taking the first set and held her nerve to save four break points in the second before wiping away tears of joy as she closed out the most important win of her career.
Caroline Wozniacki believes her recent slump and slide in the rankings has more to do with bad luck than bad tennis.The former top-ranked Dane lost two match points in the second set before falling to Tamira Paszek of Austria a 5-7, 7-6 (4), 6-4 in the first round of Wimbledon on Wednesday.Wozniacki has yet to win a title this year, was eliminated in the third round of the French Open and lost her first match at the grass-court warm-up tournament at Eastbourne.Having ended both 2010 and 2011 as the top-ranked woman — albeit without winning a major — she has fallen to No. 7.
Serbia Ana Ivanovic savoured an increasingly rare taste of success on Wednesday as the former world number one moved into the Wimbledon second round with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 victory over Spain's Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez.Ivanovic was once regarded as the female game's brightest young star after winning the 2008 French Open just months after reaching the Australian Open final.But the 24-year-old has been unable to fulfill her vast potential since then and has failed to get past the fourth round in her 16 Grand Slam appearances since that triumph in Paris.She arrived at the All England Club with her ranking down to 14 and little expectation of emulating her 2007 run in the semi-finals.This was a step in the right direction at least as her rain-delayed first round match was finally played to a conclusion on Court 14.Ivanovic has rarely gone deep in any tournament this year and she had to survive plenty of nervous moments before seeing off the world number 51 to set up a second round tie against Ukraine's Kateryna Bondarenko.The Serb broke in the second game of the opening set but promptly dropped her own serve.After another exchange of breaks, Ivanovic was finally able to take control of an error-strewn set with one final break for a 5-3 lead.Ivanovic's mental fragility resurfaced early in the second set when she allowed Martinez Sanchez to break in the second game.Ivanovic dug deep to break back in the fifth game, but carelessly surrendered her serve again and this time the left hander made her pay by taking the set.The final set was a tense affair with both players scratching around for the momentum that would carry them to victory.It was Ivanovic who finally turned the match in her favour, breaking for a 4-2 lead and serving out the win.
Maria Sharapova will take one step closer to her first Wimbledon title in eight years if she overcomes Tsvetana Pironkova in her second-round clash on Court One.Sharapova, the number one seed, looked in imperious form as she cruised past Anastasia Rodionova on Centre Court on Monday, and has a 3-0 record over Pironkova, but will wary of the tricky Bulgarian who reached the last four here two years ago.Sharapova saw two of her main rivals for the Venus Rosewater dish move in to round two on Tuesday: Serena Williams made it through with a straight-sets victory against Czech player Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, while defending champion Petra Kvitova overcame a wobble to beat world number 96 Akgul Amanmuradova 6-4 6-4.Williamsadmits she has been impressed by the way Sharapova has rebuilt her game to move back to the top of the rankings."She had a lot of issues and it took her about five years to get back so I am really proud and happy for her," she said."I looked up to that because I've had some issues myself. I'm a year back and I'm already in the top 10. I'm trying to do like she does and just keep going."For Kvitova, her Uzbek opponent had her in trouble at 4-2 adrift in the first set, but she then won six successive games before closing out a rain-affected match."I was nervous," Kvitova said. "It was the first time for me to play as the defending champion of a grand slam. It was huge honour to come to Centre Court and I wanted to make people happy but it's not that easy."But I'm happy that I stayed calm inside and did not panic during the important points."Elsewhere on Wednesday, Kim Clijsters will hope she can make it into the third round of her last Wimbledon when she faces Czech Andrea Hlavackova second on Centre Court. Third seed Agnieszka faces Russia's Elena Vesnina on Court Three while Li Na takes on Romanian Sorana Cirstea on Court 12.
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