Wimbledon
Women's second seed Victoria Azarenka escaped with an opening win over Maria Joao Koehler of Portugal 6-1, 6-2 after wrenching her knee but playing on.
"My leg just kind of collapsed, I felt like my knee just turned to the other way, and it was just so nasty," said the Belarus player after slipping on a slick spot on the grass, "I was in such shock. For two minutes I had such a consistent pain that it just completely freaked me out. You're just down on the ground, you never knew what happened."
Third seed Maria Sharapova had a fright of a different sort, trailing Kristina Mladenovic in the first set before lifting her game for a 7-6(5), 6-3 win over the Frenchwoman. Sharapova said her tennis is fine and she's all business on the court. That's the reason she won't extend the "war" of the WTA divas which erupted over the weekend with Serena Williams after a controversial magazine article.
"Honestly, I've said everything that I wanted to say about the issue," said 2004 champion Sharapova. "Wimbledon has started. This is my work, this is my job. I'd really appreciate it if we move on.
Italian fifth seed Sara Errani became the fortnight's first upset victim, losing 6-3, 6-2 by Monica Puig of Puerto Rico. Former number ones got wins as Caroline Wozniacki beat a Spaniard and Ana Ivanovic, seeded 12th, overcame Virginie Razzano 7-6(1), 6-0. The 16th seeded Jelena Jankovic beat Briton Johanna Konta 6-2, 7-5.
Four Americans were short-lived on opening day with Czech Eva Birnerova beating Varvara Lepchenko 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, Lucie Safarova defeating Lauren Davis 6-4, 6-0, France's Alize Cornet, France overcoming Vania King 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 and Michelle Larcher De Brito putting out Melanie Oudin 7-6(7), 1-6, 6-4. Christina McHale of the US beat compatriot Alexa Glatch 6-4, 6-4 while Sloane Stephens did the same to weekend Eastbourne finalist Jamie Hampton 6-3, 6-3.
RANKINGS
Estimated WTA Rankings As of June 25, 2013
Rank &
Prior
Rank....Name..............Points
1 (1) SWILLIAMS 11620*
2 (3) SHARAPOVA 9235*
3 (2) AZARENKA 8825*
4 (5) ERRANI 5180
5 (4) ARADWANSKA 5070*
6 (6) LI 5060*
7 (8) KVITOVA 4035*
8 (7) KERBER 3875*
9 (9) WOZNIACKI 3660*
10 (10) KIRILENKO 2976*
11 (14) JANKOVIC 2925*
12 (13) STOSUR 2810*
13 (11) VINCI 2785*
14 (15) BARTOLI 2775*
15 (12) IVANOVIC 2740*
16 (16) PETROVA 2505*
17 (17) STEPHENS 2470*
18 (18) SUAREZ NAVARRO 2260*
19 (19) CIBULKOVA 2140*
20 (20) FLIPKENS 2106*
21 (21) PAVLYUCHENKOVA 1805*
22 (22) VESNINA 1794*
23 (23) CIRSTEA 1700*
24 (27) MAKAROVA 1682*
25 (28) Kuznetsova 1657
26 (30) SAFAROVA 1655*
27 (25) HAMPTON 1627
28 (31) CORNET 1545*
29 (32) HALEP 1540*
30 (33) BARTHEL 1500*
DRAWS
Wimbledon -- Week of May 24
1 S Williams
28 Paszek
23 Lisicki
14 Stosur
10 Kirilenko
24 Peng
31 Oprandi
7 Kerber
4 A Radwanska
30 Barthel
21 Pavlyuchenkova
13 Petrova
11 Vinci
18 Cibulkova
32 Zakopalova
6 Li
5 Errani
26 Lepchenko
17 Stephens
9 Wozniacki
15 Bartoli
22 Cirstea
27 Safarova
3 Sharapova
8 Kvitova
25 Makarova
19 Suarez Navarro
12 Ivanovic
16 Jankovic
20 Flipkens
29 Cornet
2 Azarenka
STATUS OF SEEDS:
1 S Williams
2 Azarenka
3 Sharapova
4 A Radwanska
5 Errani
6 Li
7 Kerber
8 Kvitova
9 Wozniacki
10 Kirilenko
11 Vinci
12 Ivanovic
13 Petrova
14 Stosur
15 Bartoli
16 Jankovic
17 Stephens
18 Cibulkova
19 Suarez Navarro
20 Flipkens
21 Pavlyuchenkova
22 Cirstea
23 Lisicki
24 Peng
25 Makarova
26 Lepchenko
27 Safarova
28 Paszek
29 Cornet
30 Barthel
31 Oprandi
32 Zakopalova
MONDAY
Wimbledon
Singles - First Round
(2) Victoria Azarenka (BLR) d. Maria Joao Koehler (POR) 61 62
(3) Maria Sharapova (RUS) d. Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) 76(5) 63
Monica Puig (PUR) d. (5) Sara Errani (ITA) 63 62
(8) Petra Kvitova (CZE) d. Coco Vandeweghe (USA) 61 57 64
(9) Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) d. Estrella Cabeza Candela (ESP) 60 62
(12) Ana Ivanovic (SRB) d. (Q) Virginie Razzano (FRA) 76(1) 60
(15) Marion Bartoli (FRA) d. Elina Svitolina (UKR) 63 75
(16) Jelena Jankovic (SRB) d. (WC) Johanna Konta (GBR) 62 75
(17) Sloane Stephens (USA) d. Jamie Hampton (USA) 63 63
(19) Carla Suárez Navarro (ESP) d. Lourdes Domínguez Lino (ESP) 62 62
(20) Kirsten Flipkens (BEL) d. Yulia Putintseva (KAZ) 75 64
(22) Sorana Cirstea (ROU) d. Stefanie Voegele (SUI) 75 76(3)
(25) Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) d. Johanna Larsson (SWE) 63 63
(Q) Eva Birnerova (CZE) d. (26) Varvara Lepchenko (USA) 62 46 64
(27) Lucie Safarova (CZE) d. Lauren Davis (USA) 64 60
(29) Alizé Cornet (FRA) d. (LL) Vania King (USA) 46 63 61
Bojana Jovanovski (SRB) d. (Q) Ajla Tomljanovic (CRO) 36 61 97
Hsieh Su-Wei (TPE) d. Tatjana Maria (GER) 61 60
Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) d. Kiki Bertens (NED) 64 63
Garbiñe Muguruza (ESP) d. (WC) Anne Keothavong (GBR) 64 60
Eugenie Bouchard (CAN) d. (Q) Galina Voskoboeva (KAZ) 57 76(5) 64
Lesia Tsurenko (UKR) d. Lara Arruabarrena (ESP) 61 63
Christina McHale (USA) d. Alexa Glatch (USA) 64 64
Sílvia Soler-Espinosa (ESP) d. Misaki Doi (JPN) 16 64 61
Camila Giorgi (ITA) d. (WC) Samantha Murray (GBR) 63 64
Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (CRO) d. Sofia Arvidsson (SWE) 61 64
Vesna Dolonc (SRB) d. Yanina Wickmayer (BEL) 36 62 64
Karin Knapp (ITA) d. (WC) Lucie Hradecka (CZE) 63 64
Flavia Pennetta (ITA) d. (WC) Elena Baltacha (GBR) 64 61
(Q) Michelle Larcher De Brito (POR) d. Melanie Oudin (USA) 76(7) 16 64
(Q) Petra Cetkovska (CZE) d. Donna Vekic (CRO) 63 61
(WC) Andrea Petkovic (GER) d. Pauline Parmentier (FRA) 63 62
Doubles - First Round
(5) Kops-Jones/Spears (USA/USA) d. (WC) Peer/Yan (ISR/CHN) 64 64
(12) Barty/Dellacqua (AUS/AUS) d. (Q) Solovyeva/Zanevska (RUS/UKR) 62 75