Wimbledon: German trio into round three

Remarkably after three days of record-breaking heat, Wimbledon got off to a damp start on Thursday, delaying the start of play by 45 minutes.

Germany's number one Angelique Kerber continued her fine form and although she finally surrendered her first games of the tournament, she ended up the winner, beating Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 7-5, 6-2. After an uncomfortable first set, Kerber took the match at the third time of asking and joins friend and fellow German Andrea Petkovic in the third round, who plays on Friday.

Sabine Lisicki found the going ever tougher. Outclassed 6-2 in the first set against Christina McHale, the 2013 finalist won a crucial second set 7-5 to swing the momentum back in her favor. Lisicki never looked back and comfortably sealed the match after winning the third set 6-1. Dane Caroline Wozniacki also won but dominated first before wobbling through the second in her 6-1, 7-6 (8/6) victory.

Defending champion Petra Kivitova reached the third round on Thursday with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Japan's Kurumi Nara. "It was a good match from my side," said the 2014 Wimbledon winner. "I was really expecting a tough match because I saw a little bit of the game she played against Venus Williams here last year."

Main men march on

It was a remarkable day for German qualifier Dustin Brown, who in his first appearance ever on Wimbledon's Centre Court, knocked out 14-time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal 7-5, 3-6, 6--4, 6-4. "I'd never been on Centre Court before," Brown said after the match.

Home favorite Andy Murray was in mood to hang around as the Scot hammered Dutchman Robin Haase 6-1, 6-1, 6-3 in just under an hour and a half. British wildcard James Ward battled past Jiri Vesely 6-2, 7-6 (7/4), 3-6, 6-3 to reach the third round of Wimbledon for the first time in his career, delighting the home crowd.

Murray will now face Tomas Berdych in the third round, after the Czech number one beat Nicolas Mahut of France 6-1, 6-1, 6-4. The number six seed was joined by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in advancing, after the Frenchman dealt with Albert Ramos in quick time, beating the Spaniard 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.

Roger Federer joined Murray in the third round after a convincing 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 win over Sam Querrey. "I'm on a good run and I don't want it to stop, I'm playing well here so far," said Federer. The 17-time Grand Slam pulled off what is likely to be the shot of the tournament, as he lobbed Querrey whilst hitting the ball through his own legs.

jh/apc (dpa, Reuters)