Serena Williams opened defense of her latest Wimbledon singles crown by making quick work of Portugal’s Michelle Larcher De Brito, 6-0, 6-4 in just 63 minutes.  Serena hit 15 aces in the route to her opponent’s zero.  Here are the match stats:

  Williams (USA) Larcher De Brito (POR)
         
  1st Serve % 27 of 42 = 64 % 24 of 52 = 46 %
 
  Aces 15 0
 
  Double Faults 1 3
 
  Unforced Errors 15 16
 
  Winning % on 1st Serve 27 of 27 = 100 % 15 of 24 = 63 %
 
  Winning % on 2nd Serve 5 of 15 = 33 % 10 of 28 = 36 %
 
  Winners (Including Service) 47 6
 
  Receiving Points Won 27 of 55 = 49 % 10 of 43 = 23 %
 
  Break Point Conversions 4 of 7 = 57 % 0 of 0 = 0 %
 
  Net Approaches 9 of 12 = 75 % 1 of 5 = 20 %
 
  Total Points Won 59 35
 
   Fastest Serve Speed 119 MPH 101 MPH
 
   Average 1st Serve Speed 107 MPH 91 MPH
 
   Average 2nd Serve Speed 90 MPH 84 MPH

On the men’s side, Samurai Sam came up big against Sergiy Stakhovsky, in a close match which Sam lead, 7-6 (4), 6-4, 2-1 before Stakhovsky retired after 1 hour and 29 minutes.  The match featured two recent grass court champions.  Both men won a Wimbledon warmup in 2010, with Stakhovsky taking the title last week at ‘s Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands, lifting his world ranking to # 47, while Querrey won the prestigious Queen’s Club title.  For both men, it was their first tournament victory on grass.  Here are the match stats:

 
 
 
   Stakhovsky (UKR) Querrey (USA)
         
  1st Serve % 61 of 92 = 66 % 46 of 76 = 61 %
 
  Aces 14 11
 
  Double Faults 2 1
 
  Unforced Errors 21 26
 
  Winning % on 1st Serve 49 of 61 = 80 % 38 of 46 = 83 %
 
  Winning % on 2nd Serve 13 of 31 = 42 % 17 of 30 = 57 %
 
  Winners (Including Service) 49 44
 
  Receiving Points Won 21 of 77 = 27 % 30 of 94 = 32 %
 
  Break Point Conversions 2 of 8 = 25 % 3 of 7 = 43 %
 
  Net Approaches 24 of 35 = 69 % 13 of 21 = 62 %
 
  Total Points Won 83 85
 
   Fastest Serve Speed 127 MPH 138 MPH
 
   Average 1st Serve Speed 116 MPH 125 MPH
 
   Average 2nd Serve Speed 93 MPH 93 MPH

Querrey, who played the big points better, also got a bit lucky, as he had only an 85-83 total point edge when Stakhovsky came up lame.

No such luck for James Blake, who got taken out to the woodshed by Robin Haase, 6-2, 6-4, 6-4.

http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/scores/stats/day9/1163ms.html

This time, Blake put the loss down to balky knees, which have kept him off the tour for 10 weeks–and the whole clay season–despite the American having played exhibitions during that time. 

“The knee is not great,” Blake, who was ranked No. 4 in the ATP World Tour rankings in 2006 and is now No. 109, said in a news conference after the match. “If it doesn’t get better soon, I’m not sure how much longer I want to play in pain. I’m doing my best. We’re doing everything we can. It’s just getting pretty frustrating.”

If the pain in his knee continues, Blake said he’ll “reassess” his playing status after the U.S. Open that starts Aug. 30 in New York.

“If I need to, after the Open, take the rest of the year off and then see if I can start fresh in 2011,” Blake said. “‘I don’t know. It’s a bit of an unknown. A lot of people think the unknown is fun. Some people think it’s scary. I think it’s a little bit of both. I think it’s an opportunity. If my life is going to change after the Open, then I’ll have to be anxious and see what comes next.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-06-22/wimbledon-first-round-loser-james-blake-says-bad-knee-threatens-career.html

Poor, poor James.

The only other American to win today was Michael Russell, who defeated Spaniard, Pere Riba-Madrid, 6-3, 7-6 (1), 2-6, 7-6 (1).

Robby Ginepri, who had such a nice run in Paris got destroyed by 6th seed Robin Soderling, who has a shot at the title, 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 in 1 hour and 18 minutes.

Alberta Brianti of Italy defeated veteran American Jill Craybas, 6-2, 7-5.

–Crack (https://crackbillionair.wordpress.com)