Novak Djokovic cruises into Wimbledon second round after Martin Klizan retirement

Three-time champion Novak Djokovic took advantage of an injury to Martin Klizan to reach the second round at Wimbledon with ease. The Serbian had led 6-3 2-0 before Slovakian Klizan withdrew with a leg problem after just 40 minutes of play at SW19.

Djokovic took the opening set at a canter as Klizan showed a complete lack of mobility on the baseline. The world number 44 was unable to run during points and had to rely on his vicious forehand to create any momentum.

The number two seed eventually picked him off to take the opening set before Klizan called for the trainer as his departure drew closer. The 27-year-old completed just two more games but after taking just two points in that period he called time on the match with barely an hour played.

"It was great to be back on the centre court," said Djokovic. "It is the cradle of tennis history and it is a special feeling to walk onto this court. Of course you don't want a match to end up this way but I heard Klizan had issues before walking onto the court.

"I started serving well but when it mattered I made the break. You could see that he wasn't moving once the ball was a couple of feet away from him. It is unfortunate and I am sure he didn't want to finish this way. I had a lot of matches in Eastbourne so I've had enough match play."

Adam Pavlasek will be Djokovic's second round opponent after he beat Ernest Escobedo in four sets, with the champion from 2011, 2014 and 2015 on course to meet Juan Martin del Potro in the last 32. The Argentinean overcame Thanasi Kokkinakis in his opening round match and will need to overcome Ernest Gulbis to set up a rematch from last year's Rio Olympics.

Elsewhere, last year's runner-up Milos Raonic cruised through after overcoming Jan-Lennard Struff in straight sets and it was a similar story for Gael Monfils who defeated another German in the form of Daniel Brands.

In the all-British first round match Kyle Edmund suffered a scare before claiming his first win at Wimbledon after outlasting world number 869 Alex Ward. The Northampton man did take the opening set after capitalising on Edmund's nerves but the world number 50 rallied to take the next three sets for the loss of just six games to book a meeting with Monfils.

In the women's draw, world number one Angelique Kerber showed her mental toughness to beat Irina Falconi, whose wait for a win at the All-England Club continues. The 2016 French Open champion Garbine Muguruza also cruised through without alarm as did Coco Vandeweghe against Mona Barthel.

The shock of day two was provided by Sorana Cirstea as the 27-year-old ousted the 23<sup>rd seed Kiki Bertens. The Romania Cirstea needed a tie-break to take the opening set before breaking in a penultimate game lasting nine minutes to reach round two.