Djokovic triumphs on day of retirements

The second day of Wimbledon was characterized by two players retiring in the men’s field. On Centre Court, Martin Klizan of Slovakia withdrew when he was behind 3-6; 0-2 in his match with second seeded Novak Djokovic. Deprived of value, spectators in the same arena awaited the match between third-seeded Roger Federer and flashy Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov.

Angelique Kerber’s match against Irina Falconi from Florida was a de facto official flag-off of the Ladies Event. In the absence of defending champion, Serena Williams. She defeated her opponent 6/4; 6/4. Falconi had played through three rounds before defeating Mariana Duque-Marino from Colombia to enter the main draw for her sixth appearance in Wimbledon.

Falconi served first in the match and conceded a break. Kerber held her service game to lead 2-0. There was a semblance of real battle in the third game that was taken to deuce but Kerber broke to lead 3-0. Serving in the fourth, Kerber won the first point but lost the next four to hand game to Falconi who continued the streak with four straight points to hold serve and reduce the tally 3-2.

The applause of the spectators seemed to awaken Kerber, who stepped up her game and held at love for a lead of 4-2. With renewed confidence, Falconi held her serve in the seventh game. From then on, both ladies held serve and Kerber won the set 6/4. The second set ended with the same score. The contest was a classic Kerber conservative game. Both players made only two double faults with Falconi delivering the only ace. Kerber hit 22 outright winners contrasted with her opponent’s 22. Kerber won the match by a total of 65 points to Falconi’s 56.

Roger Federer was all business as ever in his match with Alexandr Dolgopolov. The Ukrainian served first and won the frist two points. Any hope of a battle in the offing was shattered when he faced break point. Although he saved it, he lost the advantage point that Federer held on to for the break. Federer proceeded to win his serve to lead 2-0 in games.

Two holds of serve took the tally to 3-1. In the fifth game, Dolgopolov saved a break point at 30-40 and eventually won to reduce the tally. Again, Federer raced quickly to 4-2 on his serve. The seventh game offered the excitement. Dolgopolov saved break point to deuce. He lost the first advantage but leveled and delivered a 129kph serve for advantage and held the game. Federer routinely held serve for 5-3. Serving to save the set, Dolgopolov fell behind 15-40 and Federer had the break and the frist set 6-3 after 27 minutes of play.

In the second set, Federer held to register 1-0 on scoreboard. Dolgopolov struggled through break points but lost the second game. Federer took the third game to lead 3-0. After the change-over, Dolgopolov led 30-0 but lost the next two points. At that point, he Ukrainian retired.

In a day of retirements, other matches were completed. Milos Raonic (the 6th seed) defeated Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany 7/6 (7); 6/2; 7/6 (4); Juan Martin Del Potro defeated Australia’s Thanasi Kokkinakis 6/3; 3/6; 7/6; 6/4. Spain’s strongman David Ferrer outlasted Richard Gasquet of France, 6/3; 6/4; 5/7; 6/2. Gael Monfils dismissed Daniel Brands of Germany 6/3; 7/5; 6/4. Garbine Muguruza of Spain defeated Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia, 6/2; 6/4.