Tennis | Wimbledon | ‘Lucky’ Federer sets slam record as Nadal, Kvitova advance

Roger Federer of Switzerland smashes a ball to Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia

Heat, rain, cold weather, wind, injuries or advancing years. Nothing has stopped Roger Federer from playing every single grand slam tennis event since 2000. Despite temperatures of up to 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit) yesterday, Federer breezed past Bosnia’s Damir Dzumhur 6-1, 6-3, 6-3 on Wimbledon’s Centre Court to move to the second round. At 33, Federer is a decade older than his opponent.
What seemed like yet another routine match for the seven-time Wimbledon champion from Switzerland marked his 63rd consecutive appearance in the four majors. Before Wimbledon, Federer had been tied with Japan’s Ai Sugiyama at 62.
“I’ve played hurt and sick before, but somehow the streak is still alive,” the second-seed said in a televised interview after the winning the match with 26 winners and only 12 unforced errors. “I definitely had to get lucky as well. I’ve been injured at times.”
Rafael Nadal also moved into the second round, defeating Brazil’s Thomaz Bellucci 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 on Court No. 1. Unlike Federer, Nadal has struggled with injuries in his career. He missed last year’s U.S. Open with a wrist injury and then got sidelined by an appendix operation in October. He dropped to a decade-low No. 10 in the rankings after he failed to win a single clay-court title during the European clay-court season.
“I played a solid match,” two-time winner Nadal said in a televised interview. “Good backhand, but the forehand needs to be a little more aggressive in the next match.”
Nadal, a 14-time major winner who grew up on the Spanish island of Mallorca, said the heat didn’t bother him. “In Australia, it can be much, much worse,” Nadal said. “No comparison. When it’s weather like this here in Wimbledon, it’s probably one of the best places in the world.”
Serena and Venus Williams pulled out of the women’s doubles. The siblings, who have won five Wimbledon doubles championships, play their second round in singles today, and may meet in the last 16.
The Americans had to retire from the second round last year after Serena Williams was ill and unable to hit her serves over the net. Since then, she’s won the U.S., Australian and French Open singles titles. They have won the Wimbledon doubles five times, most recently in 2012.
Earlier yesterday, two-time Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova opened play on Centre Court, beating Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands, 6-1, 6-0. Kvitova, the 2011 and 2014 champion, said reporters before the tournament she was nervous about her first match on grass this year after she withdrew from Eastbourne last week with a viral illness.
“I was sick a few days ago and still played very well,” Kvitova said after the match. “Of course I was very nervous before the match but standing on court, the atmosphere was unbelievable. I’m very happy to be back.”
Kvitova apologized for the brevity of her 36 minute match to her parents, who had traveled to London to see her. “I have to say sorry to them,” Kvitova said. “I think they are happy anyway.”
No. 10 seed Angelique Kerber also spent as little energy as possible in the heat, crushing fellow German Carina Witthoeft 6-0, 6-0. Andy Murray, the 2013 winner from Britain, is playing Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan.
Britain’s Heather Watson moved to the second round by knocking out France’s No. 32 seed Caroline Garcia in three sets. Earlier, former junior Wimbledon champion and fellow Briton Laura Robson lost 6-4, 6-4 to Russia’s Evgeniya Rodina. It was Robson’s first major match after she got sidelined with a wrist injury for 18 months.
Jack Sock of the U.S., the 31st seed, lost to Sam Groth, an Australian who once hit the fastest serve ever at 263 kilometers per hour, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3. Sock, who pushed Nadal to four sets in the fourth round of the French Open, had been struggling with a hip injury last week. Danielle Rossingh, Bloomberg