Wimbledon, England (Sports Network) - Serena Williams was back on Centre Court
at Wimbledon and began her quest for an Olympic gold medal with a straight-set
win over Serbia's Jelena Jankovic.
Williams topped Agnieszka Radwanska three weeks ago on the famed lawns of the
All England Club for her fifth Wimbledon championship. On Saturday, she
cruised to a 6-3, 6-1 rout of Jankovic.
The fourth-seeded American is trying to add Olympic singles gold to her 14
career Grand Slam titles. She has Olympic gold in doubles with sister Venus,
taking the championship at the 2000 Sydney Games and four years ago in
Beijing. Venus also won singles gold in 2000.
Next up for Serena will be another Radwanska. Urszula Radwanska advanced to
the second round Saturday with a 6-4, 6-3 triumph over Germany's Mona Barthel.
Reigning U.S. Open champion Samantha Stosur continued her struggles on the
grass in the London suburb, dropping a three-setter against Carla Suarez
Navarro. The Spaniard rallied for a 3-6, 7-5, 10-8 win over the fifth-seeded
Stosur, who was a second-round loser at Wimbledon earlier this year and has
never been past the third round in eight appearances at the All England Club.
That result likely made the path easier for Belgian standout Kim Clijsters in
her farewell year. Clijsters, who will retire after this summer's U.S. Open,
is unseeded for the Olympic tournament and advanced Saturday with a 6-1, 6-4
pasting of Italy's Roberta Vinci.
Clijsters, a four-time Grand Slam champ, will meet Suarez Navarro in the
second round.
Sixth-seeded Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic and eighth-seeded Caroline
Wozniacki of Denmark each made it to the second round with three-set wins
Saturday.
Kvitova, the 2011 Wimbledon champ, earned a 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 win over Kateryna
Bondarenko of the Ukraine to earn a matchup with China's Peng Shuai in the
second round. Peng advanced Saturday with a 6-3, 6-7 (3-7), 7-5 win over
Taiwan's Su-Wei Hsieh.
Wozniacki, meanwhile, did it the hard way, rallying from a set down for a 4-6,
6-3, 6-2 win over British crowd favorite Anne Keothavong. Next up for the
former world No. 1 will be Belgium's Yanina Wickmayer, a 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 winner
over Spain's Anabel Medina Garrigues.
China's Li Na was eliminated in three sets by Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova,
who produced a 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 triumph to gain a second-round encounter against
Frenchwoman Alize Cornet, a 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 winner over Austria's Tamira
Paszek, who had reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon each of the last two
years.
Russia's Vera Zvonareva, the 2010 Wimbledon runner-up, came away with a 7-6
(7-3), 6-4 win over Sofia Arvidsson of Sweden. The 13th seed will next meet
2010 French Open champ Francesca Schiavone, who needed three sets to dispose
of Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic.
Another former French Open champ, 11th-seeded Ana Ivanovic of Serbia, toppled
American Christina McHale, 6-4, 7-5, and will next face Britain's Elena
Baltacha, a 6-3, 6-3 winner over Hungary's Agnes Szavay.
Also, Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova upended 12th-seeded Slovakian Dominika
Cibulkova in straight sets and will next meet Italy's Flavia Pennetta, who
beat Romania's Sorana Cirstea in three.
The first round continues Sunday with matches for top-seeded Victoria
Azarenka, Agnieszka Radwanska, former Wimbledon champ Maria Sharapova and
Venus Williams.
The Sports Network