Wimbledon: Aisam-Rojer off to a rollicking start

Doubles pair registers straight-sets win in opening round.

LONDON:

Pakistan tennis ace Aisamul Haq Qureshi and his Dutch doubles partner Jean-Julien Rojer were through to the second round at Wimbledon, beating German Dustin Brown and Rameez Junaid of Australia 7-6(5), 6-4, 6-4 yesterday.

Aisam and Rojer, seeded fifth, took an hour and 48 minutes to register their straight-sets victory. A total of 16 winners and 10 aces made it easier for the Pakistani-Dutch pairing to book a place in the next round.



The result came as a relief after Aisam and Rojer had crashed out of the third round at the French Open and have endured an indecent run for some time.

Serena through to third round

Defending champion Serena Williams and evergreen Kimiko Date-Krumm, two players with a combined age of 73, set up a battle of Wimbledon senior citizens.

Top seed Williams extended her winning streak to 33 matches, just two behind the record set by sister Venus in 2000, with a 6-3, 6-2 win over French 19-year-old Caroline Garcia.

Williams, 31, chasing a sixth Wimbledon title and 17th major, wrapped up victory, the 599th of her career, in 67 minutes with 30 winners and nine aces.

Date-Krumm, 42, reached the Wimbledon third round, 17 years after she last did so, with a 6-4, 7-5 win over Romania’s Alexandra Cadantu, 19 years the Japanese’s junior, to become the oldest woman to make the last 32 at the All England Club.

The previous oldest player was Britain’s Virginia Wade, who was 39 years and 362 days old when she made the same stage in 1985.

Despite their many years on tour, Williams and Date-Krumm have never played each other.



“Kimiko is so incredibly fit and inspiring. I have never played her but I watched her when I was super-young,” said Williams.“Venus has played her, so I will definitely be talking to her about it.”

After the shockwaves of Wednesday, which saw Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova knocked out and world number two Victoria Azarenka one of a record seven injury withdrawals and retirements, normal service was resumed.

There were still hints, however, of aches and pains.

Veteran French serve-volleyer Michael Llodra retired through illness after dropping the first set of his second round clash against Italy’s Andreas Seppi.

He was the eighth pullout of the second round, equalling the previous Wimbledon mark set in 2008.

China’s sixth-seed Li Na also went into the third round with a 6-2, 1-6, 6-0 win over Simona Halep. German Sabine Lisicki defeated Eastbourne title-holder Elena Vesnina of Russia 6-3, 6-1.

She will face former US Open champion Samantha Stosur, the Australian 14th seed, who saw off Russia’s Olga Puchkova 6-2, 6-2

In men’s second round action, Czech seventh-seed Tomas Berdych, the runner-up in 2010, defeated Daniel Brands of Germany, 7-6 (8/6), 6-4, 6-2.

Also progressing were Argentine eighth seed Juan Martin del Potro who took out Canadian Jesse Levine, 6-2, 7-6 (9/7), 6-3.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 28^th, 2013.

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