Summary French Open champion Mirra Andreeva eased into the Wimbledon second round with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Poland's Magda Linette on Monday.
LONDON (AFP) – French Open champion Mirra Andreeva eased into the Wimbledon second round with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Poland's Magda Linette on Monday.
Andreeva, seeded fifth, will face 2024 Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova in a fascinating last-64 clash.
The 19-year-old reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals last year -- her best run in three appearances at the All England Club.
Long touted as a rising star on the women's tour, Andreev crushed Polish qualifier Maja Chwalinska to clinch her maiden Grand Slam title at the recent French Open.
Andreev, coached by former Wimbledon champion Conchita Martinez, was the youngest woman to win Roland Garros since Monica Seles in 1992.
SERENA SET FOR MUCH-ANTICIPATED WIMBLEDON RETURN
Serena Williams will make her return to singles tennis for the first time in four years when she steps onto Centre Court at Wimbledon on Tuesday, while Iga Swiatek starts her title defence.
French Open champion Alexander Zverev gets his campaign under way, bidding to put his previous grass-court struggles behind him.
Here, AFP Sport takes a look at three matches to watch on the second day of the tournament:
Serena Williams (USA) v Maya Joint (AUS)
FIRST MEETING
-- Williams plays a professional singles match for the first time since "evolving away" from tennis four years ago when she takes on Australian youngster Joint in the first round.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion announced her shock return to the sport earlier this month and has played two doubles matches since, winning one and losing one.
The tie against Joint will be the 44-year-old's first appearance in singles since losing to Ajla Tomljanovic in the 2022 US Open third round.
"I expect to be nervous. I was also nervous every single match I ever played in my life," said Williams, who will also play in the doubles alongside older sister Venus.
"I've always had some nerves. But then I just dust 'em off, then I move on. I definitely expect to have those same feelings."
Serena could not have been given a much kinder draw than facing Joint, who has lost 13 of her last 14 matches.
Even a drop down to the second-tier ITF circuit didn't bring the 20-year-old much joy.
Joint has slipped to 87th in the WTA rankings, having been inside the world's top 30 in February.
She will face a daunting task Tuesday, when the crowd will be firmly behind her opponent.
Serena won the last of her seven Wimbledon titles a decade ago and her last Grand Slam triumph came at the 2017 Australian Open, when she was pregnant with her first child.
