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Muguruza, Nadal, Zverev, Del Potro advance

By The Assam Tribune

LONDON, July 3: Defending champion Garbine Muguruza opened up traditional �ladies day� on Wimbledon�s Centre Court with a 6-2, 7-5 win over British wildcard Naomi Broady in the first round on Tuesday.

Since the pair last contested a match seven years ago, Muguruza has gone on to become a two-time Grand Slam champion and the Spaniard produced an assured performance to dispatch the 138th-ranked Broady.

Broady, who saved eight of the 11 break points she faced, survived a match point on her serve in the 10th game to the delight of the cheering fans but the third seed made no mistake two games later as she wrapped up the win.

Muguruza will play either Belgium�s Alison van Uytvanck or Slovenia�s Polona Hercog in the second round.

Fourth seed Alexander Zverev and fifth seed Juan Martin del Potro both made it safely into the second round after straight-set wins.

Germany�s Zverev defeated Australia�s world number 748 James Duckworth 7-5, 6-2, 6-0.

Del Potro, who reached the semifinals in 2013, beat Zverev�s compatriot Peter Gojowczyk 6-3, 6-4, 6-3.

The Argentine will next face Spanish veteran Feliciano Lopez.

British number ones Johanna Konta and Kyle Edmund both reached the second round without dropping a set in their opening matches.

Konta, a semifinalist last year, beat Natalia Vikhlyantseva 7-5, 7-6 (9-7), but made harder work of it than necessary.

The 22nd seed needed her sixth match point to beat the Russian 21-year-old.

Edmund�s progress was more straightforward, the 21st seed winning 6-2, 6-3, 7-5 against Australian debutant Alex Bolt in under two hours.

World No. 1 Rafael Nadal registered a convincing 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 victory against Dudi Sela.

�It is great to be here at Wimbledon. I�m happy to be through,� Nadal said.

There is still room to improve but after a while not playing on grass it was good to win in three.

�It�s the first round, and it�s not easy, especially not playing on grass much before.

�It doesn�t matter how you win or get there, but for the body, it�s better in straight sets.� � Agencies

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