1st rain delay at Wimbledon this year halts play

(Florian Eisele/Pool Photo via AP). Tarps were pulled over all of the outside courts, and the retractable roof on Centre Court was closed for the ensuing women’s match between Svetlana Kuznetsova and Caroline Wozniacki.

Last year Kyrgios was booed when accused of giving up during a game with Richard Gasquet – an allegation he denied – while other off-court incidents have also blighted him.

The retractable roof is closed on Centre Court, the only arena at the All England Club where play can proceed when there is wet weather. He has won just one match on the main tour in his career and that was at last year’s Wimbledon.

Kyrgios outgunned Stepanek 6-4 6-3 6-7 (9-11) 6-1 to safely move into the second round before nominating the the 37-year-old as a possible future travelling mentor.

“I think more or less about winning Australia, I think about winning the French Open; didn’t happen”, said Williams.

No. 15 Nick Kyrgios kept his cool and hit another between-the-legs victor as he beat 37-year-old Radek Stepanek 6-4, 6-3, 6-7 (9), 6-1.

The 65th-ranked Fritz, making his Wimbledon debut, was the youngest man in the draw.

Del Potro made the second round by beating France’s Stephane Robert 6-1, 7-5, 6-0.

Defending champion Serena Williams stuttered to a low-key and error-strewn 6-2 6-4 first-round victory over Swiss qualifier Amra Sadikovic on Tuesday.

The match ended on a successful line challenge by Williams after she hit a backhand return that was called long.

Looking ill-at-ease, as though her quest for an elusive 22nd grand slam title was weighing heavily on her shoulders, Williams struggled with her serve and sprayed balls wide on both sides of the court.

Back on the same No. 2 Court where his Wimbledon campaign imploded past year, Nick Kyrgios behaved and beat Radek Stepanek 6-4, 6-3, 6-7 (9), 6-1 to open his latest run at the All England Club on Tuesday.

During the match Kyrgios was warned for bad language by Lahyani following an audible rant that included telling his support team to stop watching him after he lost the third set.

Kyrgios took the second on a single break and had the chance to wrap things up in straight sets when he served for the match at 5-4.

“We set a goal with my condition coach that Jimmy Connors was the oldest one winning a match at a grand slam”.

Stepanek, who was watched by his friend, Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech, exhausted and Kyrgios stormed through the fourth set with two further breaks of serve to wrap up victory in two hours and 26 minutes.

No. 7 Gasquet swept past Britain’s Aljaz Bedene 6-3, 6-4, 6-3, while No. 12 Tsonga got past Spain’s Inigo Cervantes 6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-4.

The Argentina star is ranked at 165 but made the semi-finals at Wimbledon in 2013, while Wawrinka has twice been a quarter-finalist.

Radek Stepanek has agreed to happily consider taking up Nick Kyrgios’s offer to maybe join the Australian’s entourage when he retires. He also played one between-the-legs lob, which sailed over Stepanek and landed just inside the baseline, which was breathtaking.

Kyrgios, now without a coach and to whom Stepanek has already passed on playing tips, kept both his power game and his notorious temper in check in their first-round clash.

Kyrgios was also wary of Brown, who famously took out Rafael Nadal a year ago as well as fellow former champion Lleyton Hewitt in 2013.

Nick Kyrgios has grabbed the early advantage in his intriguing battle of the generations against Radek Stepanek in the opening round of Wimbledon.

Injury-plagued del Potro, a former US Open champion, is playing in his first Grand Slam event since the 2014 Australian Open after undergoing three wrist surgeries.