Angelique Kerber confidently reached the second round of the grass classic in Wimbledon. The 2018 winner outclassed French Kristina Mladenovic at the start of the tournament and celebrated a 6-0, 7-5 win over the doubles specialist after just 62 minutes.
For the 34-year-old from Kiel it was only the fourth set win without losing a game in her 14th Wimbledon participation. Only in the more competitive second round was Kerber really challenged. In the next round, last year’s semi-finalist meets Magda Linette from Poland and is also a favourite.
Previously, Jule Niemeier had already moved into the second round. The 22-year-old from Dortmund beat China’s Xiyu Wang 6-1, 6-4 after just 73 minutes, celebrating her first win ever in a Grand Slam tournament. The world rankings-97. dominated the game at the beginning and remained sovereign even with increasing resistance from her opponent in the second set. Niemeier now faces an extremely difficult task and meets Estonian Anett Kontaveit, who is number two. Last year, Niemeier narrowly missed making the leap into the Wimbledon main draw for the first time.