WIMBLEDON, ENGLAND - Serena Williams opened her bid for a third straight Wimbledon title Tuesday with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over a Chinese player making her first appearance at the All England Club.
The top-seeded Williams wasn't her dominating self in a tougher-than-expected outing against 52nd-ranked Zheng Jie, who showed no signs of being awed against the two-time defending champion on Centre Court.
The score was deceptive. The 20-year-old Zheng, with an especially strong backhand, stayed close in most games and pushed Williams for much of the 66-minute match.
But Zheng couldn't break Williams' serve, going 0-10 on break points. Williams also took advantage of Zheng's weak serve, teeing off on her second deliveries.
While Williams hit speeds of 121 mph on her first serve and 103 mph on her second, Zheng's fastest first serve was 102 mph and second serve at 83 mph.
Williams curtseyed and blew kisses to the crowd afterward. But it wasn't a vintage display from Williams, who committed 24 unforced errors to go with six aces and 29 winners. She was less convincing than her sister, two-time champion Venus, who swept 106th-ranked Marie-Gayanay Mikaelian of Switzerland 6-3, 6-0 on Monday.
Serena hasn't won a Grand Slam title since beating Venus in last year's Wimbledon final, and had an eight-month layoff after knee surgery last August. She is bidding to become the first player to win Wimbledon three straight times since Steffi Graf in 1991-93.
In an early upset, sixth-seeded Elena Dementieva of Russia - the losing finalist at last month's French Open - was bounced in the first round 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 by Sandra Kleinova of the Czech Republic. Also, No. 17 Chanda Rubin lost 7-6 (5), 6-3 to Marion Bartoli of France.
There was also an early surprise on the men's side, with 19th-seeded Marat Safin beaten by fellow Russian Dmitry Tursunov, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (1). Safin was a quarterfinalist at this major in 2001, but Wimbledon remains his least successful Grand Slam event.
Watching Safin's match was former Russian president Boris Yeltsin, an avid tennis fan and player. Yeltsin was invited to sit in the Royal Box on Centre Court, but instead wandered out to Court 2 to watch the all-Russian contest.
After Safin lost four straight games to drop the second set, Yeltsin left the court. Safin received a warning for smashing his racket on the ground in the third game of the third set. He smashed it again while walking to his chair to get a new one. He swore at umpire Gerry Armstrong, who took no action.
In other men's play, second-seeded Andy Roddick was matched against Wang Yeu-Tzuoo of Taiwan and No. 5 Tim Henman against Ruben Ramirez-Hidalgo of Spain. Early first-round winners included No. 14 Mardy Fish and No. 18 Feliciano Lopez.
Other top women in action Tuesday were No. 4 Amelie Mauresmo and No. 7 Jennifer Capriati.
Saturday
August 2nd, 2025
3:27AM
