“For me, I’m still looking forward to the next months,” said Kerber, who will now lose the No. 1 ranking at the end of Wimbledon to either Simona Halep or Karolina Pliskova.

The so-called “Best Day in Tennis” takes place Monday at Wimbledon. While the schedule is loaded with all 32 players left in the men’s and women’s draws, it can be the most “Annoying Day in Tennis” because you can’t possibly watch everything! And there’s a lot to see. And instead of just men, I’ll just [...]

“She was hitting the balls very hard,” Kerber said of the American.

On facing Halep, who she is 2-1 career against, Azarenka said, “It doesn’t really matter to me who is on the other side. I always treat my matches, you know, and every opponent I respect the same way, but it is good for me to play against her.”

“It wasn’t an easy match and for sure it wasn’t the best tennis I’ve ever played,” Kerber said.

“Playing first rounds in grand slams are always tough, especially with my first-round match that I lost in Paris,” said Kerber, who had more unforced errors than winners. “I was actually just thinking about point-by-point, trying to finding my rhythm during the whole match.”

ESPN’s Brad Gilbert says that as many as 40 different women could win Wimbledon.

Potential tough starts for (1) Kerber vs. homegirl (WC) Broady, (10) Ostapenko vs. Makarova, (3) Pliskova vs. the Riske/Cornet winner, (8) Radwanska vs. the Goerges/Bellis winner, (11) Muguruza vs. Bouchard, and (6) Wozniacki vs. the Japanese riser Osaka…

Victoria Azarenka returns to the tour after giving birth to her son, Leo, and Sabine Lisicki also makes her 2017 debut after a shoulder injury suffered last November…

“I think she played a good match. It was a tough first round,” Kerber said. “I had a few chance in the first set and also in the second set, and I didn’t make it. I think that was the key for the match. I believed in the second set, as well, that I can turn around the match and I was still believing until the last point, but she played well.”

Upset alert for (2) Pliskov vs. Zheng, who upset Svitolina in Madrid…Other tough starts for (20) Barbora Strycova vs. Riske (winner to meet the French upset specialist Cornet), and (19) Vandeweghe vs. Rybarikova who the American lost her last meeting against…

“It’s my first time beating the No. 1 in the world, so, you know, I’m super excited,” said the player ranked outside the Top 50.

“I apologize for having to withdraw from my match today with a left thigh injury,” Sharapova said in a statement.

Bouchard in advancing to a career-first Madrid quarterfinal round will next face No. 8 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, who defeated China’s Wang Qiang 6-4, 7-5.

Simona Halep won a tight battle of former Grand Slam finalists.