Session adjourned - Gulf Daily News

Email: gdnsport@batelco.com.bhWORLD SPORT Gulf Daily News Tuesday, 25th June 201331‘Rufus’ in action!LONDON: Record crowds lined up ing at the All England Club atfor day one of the 2013 Wimbledon Wimbledon that hosts the world’stennis championships yesterday as oldest tennis tournament.action got underway early on Centre This year, his handlers AnnaCourt with pigeon-scarer, Rufus the and Imogen Davis, are keepinghawk, clearing away pesky bird life close tabs on Rufus who was stolenand forecasts for a dry day.from their car overnight last yearWith his own Twitter account and was missing for three daysand Facebook page, Rufus has before being found, abandonedbecome one of Britain’s bestknownbirds, deployed from Wimbledon Common.in his transportation cage, on5am daily to clear pigeons roost-n DavisposeswithRufusDavis said she suggested usinghawks to clear the courts ofpigeons about 14 years ago while atWimbledon as a spectator and hasbeen coming every morning of thetwo weeks championship ever since.Action on the main showcourts(prefix denotes seeding)Centre Court(Starting at 3pm, Bahrain time)1-S Williams (US) v M Minella (Luxembourg)1-N Djokovic (Serbia) v F Mayer (Germany)4-D Ferrer (Spain) v M Alund (Argentina)Court One(Starting at 3pm, Bahrain time)A Ramos (Spain) v 8-J Del Potro (Argentina)10-M Kirilenko (Russia) v L Robson (Britain)M Klizan (Slovakia) v 7-T Berdych (Czech)TODAY’S ORDER OF PLAYCourt Two(Starting at 1.30pm, Bahrain time)H Watson (Britain) v M Keys (US)D Tursunov (Russia) v 13-T Haas (Germany)9-R Gasquet (France) v M Granollers (Spain)4-A Radwanska (Poland) v Meusburger(Austria)Court Three(Starting at 1.30pm, Bahrain time)A Schmiedlova (Slovakia) v 14-S Stosur (Australia)B Tomic (Australia) v 21-S Querrey (US)B Mattek-Sands (US) v 7-A Kerber (Germany)19-G Simon (France) v F Lopez (Spain)LIVE ON ESPN & ESPN2 and ABU DHABI SPORTS CHANNELSl Sharapova and Azarenka march onDOWNn Sharapova makes a return against Mladenovic. Below, Azarenkais attended to after taking a fall during her match with KoehlerBUTNOTOUT!MEN’S1st rd: Steve Darcis (BEL) bt Rafael Nadal(ESP x5) 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (10/8), 6-4; Andy Murray(GBR x2) bt Benjamin Becker (GER) 6-4, 6-3,6-2; Lukasz Kubot (POL) bt Igor Andreev (RUS)6-1, 7-5, 6-2; Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) bt StanislasWawrinka (SUI x11) 6-4, 7-5, 6-3; StephaneRobert (FRA) bt Alejandro Falla (COL) 6-3, 7-6(7/5), 7-5; Benoit Paire (FRA x25) bt AdrianUngur (ROM) 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1; John Isner(USA x18) bt Evgeny Donskoy (RUS) 6-1, 7-6(7/5), 7-6 (7/3); Adrian Mannarino (FRA) btPablo Andujar (ESP) 6-1, 6-2, 6-3; GuillaumeRufin (FRA) bt Marinko Matosevic (AUS) 6-1,4-6, 6-4, 6-3; Jurgen Melzer (AUT) bt FabioFognini (ITA x30) 6-7 (5/7), 7-5, 6-3, 6-2; JulianReister (GER) bt Lukas Rosol (CZE) 6-3, 4-6,7-6 (7/5), 6-7 (4/7), 6-4; Roger Federer (SUIx3) bt Victor Hanescu (ROM) 6-3, 6-2, 6-0;Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA x6) bt David Goffin(BEL) 7-6 (7/4), 6-4, 6-3; Marin Cilic (CRO x10)bt Marcos Baghdatis (CYP) 6-3, 6-4, 6-4; ViktorTroicki (SRB) bt Janko Tipsarevic (SRB x14)6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7/5); Andrey Kuznetsov (RUS) btAlbert Montañes (ESP) 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3; VasekPospisil (CAN) bt Marc Gicquel (FRA) 6-3, 6-2,7-6 (7/3); Mikhail Youzhny (RUS x20) bt RobinHaase (NED) 6-4, 7-5, 7-5DAY ONE COLLATED RESULTSWOMEN’S1st rd: Monica Puig (PUR) bt Sara Errani(ITA x5) 6-3, 6-2; Silvia Soler (ESP) bt MisakiDoi (JPN) 1-6, 6-4, 6-1; Lesya Tsurenko(UKR) bt Lara Arruabarrena (ESP) 6-1, 6-3;Eva Birnerová (CZE) bt Varvara Lepchenko(USA x26) 6-2, 4-6, 6-4; Camila Giorgi (ITA)bt Samantha Murray (GBR) 6-3, 6-4; SoranaCirstea (ROM x22) bt Stefanie Vögele (SUI)7-5, 7-6 (7/3); Lucie Safarova (CZE x27) btLauren Davis (USA) 6-4, 6-0; Karin Knapp(ITA) bt Lucie Hradecká (CZE) 6-3, 6-4; MariaSharapova (RUS x3) bt Kristina Mladenovic(FRA) 7-6 (7/5), 6-3; Carla Suárez (ESP x19)bt Lourdes Domínguez (ESP) 6-2, 6-2; MirjanaLucic (CRO) bt Sofia Arvidsson (SWE) 6-1,6-4; Eugénie Bouchard (CAN) bt GalinaVoskoboeva (KAZ) 5-7, 7-6 (7/5), 6-4; AnaIvanovic (SRB x12) bt Virginie Razzano (FRA)7-6 (7/1), 6-0; Jelena Jankovic (SRB x16)bt Johanna Konta (GBR) 6-2, 7-5; VesnaManasieva (SRB) bt Yanina Wickmayer (BEL)3-6, 6-2, 6-4; Alize Cornet (FRA x29) bt VaniaKing (USA) 4-6, 6-3, 6-1; Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE) btTatjana Malek (GER) 6-1, 6-0; Flavia Pennetta(ITA) bt Elena Baltacha (GBR) 6-4, 6-1; VictoriaAzarenka (BLR x2) bt Maria João Koehler(POR) 6-1, 6-2LONDON: Second seed VictoriaAzarenka fought through the painbarrier after a nasty fall that left herin shock to beat Maria Joao Koehler6-1 6-2 and reach the Wimbledonsecond round yesterday.The Belarussian had cruised through the first setagainst the Portuguese world number 106 and was onepoint away from going 2-0 up in the second when sheslipped behind the baseline while trying to reach a shotand almost did the splits.“It happened so quick in the second that my leg justkind of collapsed,” she told a news conference. “I feltlike my knee just turned to the other way and it wasjust so nasty.“I was in such shock. For two minutes I had such aconsistent pain that it just completely freaked me outwhat happened.”Azarenka screamed in agony as she lay on thegrass, with some spectators taking a moment to realisethe noise was pain rather than the usual shrieks thataccompany her every shot, and she received treatmentthere before taking a medical timeout.Her right knee was strapped and she walked gingerlyback to continue the match, serving two double faultsimmediately before eventually losing the game.On top of her injury, Azarenka was hampered by afaulty scoreboard flickering in her line of sight but sheovercame the distractions to break back immediatelyand then hold serve.Hobbling between shots and unable to run for anythingthat landed far from where she was standing,Azarenka managed to win games thanks to Koehler’serrors and her own power on the shots she could getbehind.Maria Sharapova put her bitter public feud withSerena Williams to one side to reach the second round.The 2004 Wimbledon champion was given a sterntest by France’s Kristina Mladenovic but the Russianthird seed eventually triumphed 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 onCentre Court.“I’m really pleased with this performance,”Sharapova said.“My opponent played extremely well so I’m reallyhappy to be in the second round.”Italian fifth seed Sara Errani became the first majorcasualty of this year’s Wimbledon when she slumped toa 6-3, 6-2 defeat to Puerto Rican teenager Monica Puig.Errani, a semi-finalist at the French Open earlierthis month and runner-up in Paris to Maria Sharapovain 2012, had gone into her first round clash carrying agroin injury which forced her out of Eastbourne lastweek.