Stan Wawrinka’s stay at Wimbledon was a short one.
A three-time major champion, and the French Open runner-up just three weeks ago, Wawrinka was bothered by his left knee and lost 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 to Daniil Medvedev at Centre Court in the first round at the All England Club.
Wawrinka was seeded No. 5 and ranked No. 3. Medvedev, a 21-year-old Russian, is ranked 49th and had never won a Grand Slam match.
Wawrinka iced his knee during changeovers and never was able to summon his best tennis. He has won each of the other three major tournaments but has never been past the quarterfinals at Wimbledon. This was his sixth defeat in the first round at the All England Club.
Nadal cruises into second round
Back at Wimbledon and still playing his best, Rafael Nadal advanced to the second round at the All England Club.
The fourth-seeded Spaniard, who won his 10th French Open title last month, beat John Millman of Australia 6-1, 6-3, 6-2 on No. 1 Court.
Nadal is a two-time champion at Wimbledon. From 2006 to 2011, he reached the final every year except 2009, when he skipped the grass-court major because of injury.
Besides extending his championship record at the French Open, Nadal also reached the Australian Open this year, losing to Roger Federer.
Injury, rain don’t slow down Murray
Defending champion Andy Murray of Britain fought off a nagging left hip injury and a half-hour rain delay to beat Alexander Bublik 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 in the opening round of Wimbledon.
Murray, who lost in the first round at Queen’s last month, showed no ill effects from an injury that caused him to call off two days of practice last week.
The 134th-ranked Bublik, from Kazakhstan, was playing in his seventh tour-level match. His eccentric style, built on slices and drop shots, seemed as though it could test Murray’s mobility.
Murray countered with his own defensive game and took advantage of his opponent’s errors. Bublik had 35 unforced errors to Murray’s 10 and had 12 double-faults.
