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Serena Williams, Novak Djokovic win opening matches at Wimbledon

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Order was generally restored among the top seeds Tuesday at Wimbledon, where the No. 1 men’s and women’s players easily won their opening matches one day after No. 5 Rafael Nadal had been eliminated in a shocking straight-set defeat.

Serena Williams extended her winning streak to 32 matches with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Mandy Minella of Luxembourg, taking only 57 minutes. Williams’ serve was broken once, and although it seemed like a romp she insisted she never let up.

“I feel that I’m always ready,” the defending champion told reporters. “You know, I never feel invincible. I always feel that I have to be ready for each opponent in each game, and I never become overconfident. I think when I do or if I do, that’s the moment that I’m most vulnerable.”

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However, No. 10 Maria Kirilenko of Russia was eliminated by 19-year-old Laura Robson of Britain, who won 6-3, 6-4 on Court 1. “I’m still nervous,” Robson said afterward during a TV interview.

Among the men, top-seeded Novak Djokovic of Serbia ousted Florian Mayer of Germany, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4. The Australian Open champion improved his match record this season to 34-5. Also, No. 8 seed Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina defeated Albert Ramos of Spain, 6-2, 7-5, 6-1, and No. 13 Tommy Haas of Germany, who’s 35 years old, defeated Dmitry Tursunov of Russia, 6-3, 7-5, 7-5.

Americans James Blake, Denis Kudla and Ryan Harrison advanced. Blake defeated Thiemo De Bakker of the Netherlands, 6-1, 6-3, 6-2, while Kudla prevailed over James Duckworth of Australia, 6-4, 6-2, 3-6, 4-6, 6-1, and Harrison defeated Jeremy Chardy of France, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 7-5, 6-2.

But No. 21 Sam Querrey of the U.S. was eliminated as Bernard Tomic of Australia won, 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (3), 3-6, 2-6, 6-3.

On the women’s side, Bethanie Mattek-Sands of Phoenix made a distinct impression with her green-tinted hair but was dismissed by No. 7 Angelique Kerber of Germany, 6-3, 6-4. No. 14 Samantha Stosur of Australia, the 2011 U.S. Open champion, beat Anna Schmiedlova of Slovakia, 6-1, 6-3.

Promising American Madison Keys defeated Heather Watson of Great Britain, 6-3, 7-5.

[Updated at 11:25 a.m.: No. 4 seed David Ferrer of Spain fell twice during his first-round match against Martin Alund of Argentina and limped noticeably in the late stages, but he held off Alund, 6-1, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2, on Wimbledon’s Center Court.

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Ferrer fell to the grass once in the second set and again in the fourth, yelling in pain for several seconds because of an apparent ankle injury. But he was able to finish and move on, though he was scheduled to have his ankle examined afterward.

“I’m okay,” he told the BBC, his expression reflecting more embarrassment than pain.

In other men’s matches involving top-20 seeds, No. 7 Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic advanced wth a 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 victory over Martin Klizan of Slovakia, No. 9 Richard Gasquet of France rallied after losing the first set and defeated Marcel Granollers of Spain, 6-7 (2), 6-4, 7-5, 6-4, and No. 17 Milos Raonic of Canada defeated Carlos Berlocq of Argentina, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3.]

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