2023-07-03 15:02:00
Rublev is one of 17 players from Russia and Belarus competing in the singles tennis classic. The number one for women, Iga Swiatek, also easily progressed.
“I’m very happy to be back here after two years and to have won my first match,” said Rublev on the pitch. Rublev only struggled in the second set when he was 5-2 down but won the set 7-5. Rublev, who had written the comment “No war” on a tournament camera shortly after the invasion in February 2022, was warmly greeted by the audience.
A year ago, Wimbledon was the only tournament that banned the participation of players from both countries because of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. As a result, the player organizations ATP and WTA did not award any world ranking points for Wimbledon and also penalized the tournament. As on the tours, players are not allowed to play under their national flag and must sign a declaration that they do not support the regime of Russian President Vladimir Putin. In addition, they are not allowed to receive any state aid from the two countries.
Grabher and Djokovic will have to wait
Swiatek didn’t give the Chinese Zhu Lin a chance at 6:1,6:3 and converted her first match point after 80 minutes. The game on Court 1 was briefly interrupted due to rain and then continued under closed roof. The Polish French Open winner had to give up last week at the WTA tournament in Bad Homburg because of illness before her semifinals. At the start of Wimbledon, the world number one made a good impression again. “Luckily it wasn’t food poisoning. I feel good,” said Swiatek after her win.
The American Jessica Pegula, who was seeded number four, also made it through, albeit with much more difficulty. It was only after 2:20 hours that she prevailed against her compatriot Lauren Davis with 6:2,6:7(8),6:3.
Defending champion Novak Djokovic had to wait. He led 6:3 against Pedro Cachin (ARG) before it was interrupted for more than an hour due to rain until the roof was closed. Austria’s first starter on Monday was Julia Grabher, whose game against Danielle Collins (USA), scheduled for the 4th match in 17th place, will start with a delay because of the rain.
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