Fourth seed Alexander Zverev, Venus, Murray through to second round

LONDON: Fourth seed Alexander Zverev served strongly to overpower Dutch qualifier Tallon Griekspoor 6-3, 6-4, 6-1 on Tuesday and advance to the second round of Wimbledon.

The US Open finalist had lost to qualifiers on his last two visits to the grasscourt Grand Slam but the 124th-ranked Griekspoor, making his Wimbledon main draw debut, did not have the game to challenge the tall German in their first meeting.

Play was suspended due to rain as the roof was closed on Court One with Zverev up a set and a break but the stoppage had no impact on the 24-year-old who continued to land a high percentage of his first serves in to dominate the match.

Zverev hit 20 aces, kept his unforced errors low and broke Griekspoor's serve six times before sealing the match with a backhand winner down the line.

Five-time champion Venus Williams, playing as a wildcard in her 23rd Wimbledon, showed vintage form to beat Romania's Mihaela Buzarnescu 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.

The oldest woman in the draw at 41, Williams had not won a match since reaching the second round at the Australian Open in February but showed she was far from finished on her return to a favourite place.

The Court Three clash of veterans, one of several held over due to rain on Monday, was the 271st victory of a remarkable Grand Slam career for Williams and, despite serving 10 aces, did not come easy.

The American had powered to a 5-1 lead in the final set but then wobbled as Buzarnescu, 33, saved a match point and came back to 5-3.

The Romanian failed to convert three break points in the final game, but saved another match point, before Williams made sure of victory at the third attempt.

Williams' next opponent will be Tunisian Ons Jabeur, who beat Sweden's Rebecca Peterson 6-2, 6-1.

Former world number one Karolina Pliskova began her quest for a maiden Grand Slam title with a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Slovenia's Tamara Zidansek.

Greece's Maria Sakkari, returning to action for the first time since her French Open semi-final defeat, powered past Aranxta Rus of the Netherlands 6-1, 6-1 in 49 minutes.

Later on Monday, Two-time former champion Andy Murray made a memorable return, overcoming 24th seed Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia 6-4, 6-3, 5-7, 6-3.

Murray led 5-0 in the third set and was on the verge of closing out a straightforward victory. But after a stunning reversal that sent the match into a fourth set, the 34-year-old Murray battled to victory in three hours and 32 minutes.

"I definitely should have finished it up a lot sooner than what I did," said Murray after the late evening match on Monday. "(But) I don't think there are that many players that would have won that fourth set." Agencies

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