London, June 29 (IANS): Fourth seed Alexander Zverev of Germany began his quest for a maiden Grand Slam title with an easy 6-3, 6-4, 6-1 win over Dutch qualifier Tallon Griekspoor at the Wimbledon on Tuesday.
The 24-year-old slammed 20 aces and won 77 per cent of his first-service points to progress into the second round in 94 minutes.
In the French Open semi-finals this month, Zverev had lost to Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas, who lost his first-round match to American Frances Tiafoe on Monday.
Zverev will next face the winner of the match between Slovakia’s Norbert Gombos and American Tennys Sandgren. The German’s best performance at Wimbledon has been a fourth-round finish in 2017.
After Zverev faced an early scare against the Dutchman, fending off two break points in the opening game, the German played explosive tennis from the baseline to power into a 5-1 lead. Though his Dutch opponent made it 3-5, Zverev closed out on serve, hitting 12 winners in the first set.
Griekspoor found it hard to control his groundstrokes once the roof was closed, frequently firing his forehand long and committing 10 unforced errors in the second set.
The 24-year-old Greikspoor, ranked 124th in the world, was making his Wimbledon debut after coming through the qualifiers.
Wildcard Venus through to second round at her 23rd Wimbledon
Five-times champion Venus Williams, playing as a wildcard in her 23rd Wimbledon, showed vintage form to beat Romania’s Mihaela Buzarnescu 7-5 4-6 6-3 and reach the second round on Tuesday.
The oldest woman in the draw at 41, Williams had not won a match since reaching the second round at the Australian Open in February but showed she was far from finished on her return to a favourite place.
The Court Three clash of veterans, one of several held over due to rain on Monday, was the 271st victory of a remarkable Grand Slam career for Williams and, despite serving 10 aces, did not come easy.
The American had powered to a 5-1 lead in the final set but then wobbled as Buzarnescu, 33, saved a match point and came back to 5-3.
The Romanian failed to convert three break points in the final game, but saved another match point, before Williams made sure of victory at the third attempt.
Williams’ next opponent will be Tunisian Ons Jabeur, who beat Sweden’s Rebecca Peterson 6-2 6-1.
