Novak, Serena cruise
Novak Djokovic, Stan Wawrinka, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova reached the Wimbledon second round on Monday as 2002 champion Lleyton Hewitt's 17-year All England Club career came to a bruising end.
French Open champion and third seed Wawrinka reached the Wimbledon second round with a 6-2, 7-5, 7-6 (7/3) win over Portugal's Joao Sousa.
Defending champion Djokovic enjoyed a 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 win over Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber with crucial breaks in the ninth game of each set.
But the world number one and top seed again found himself defending allegations that coach Boris Becker is using various means to coach him from the sidelines, a practice which is banned.
"I'm just trying to figure out what you want to achieve with this story. Do you want to say I'm cheating, my team?" fumed the 28-year-old Djokovic.
He next faces Finland's Jarkko Nieminen who defeated Hewitt 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-0, 11-9 in a four-hour marathon.
It was Hewitt's last singles match at the tournament -- and 44th five-setter at the majors -- as he plans to retire after next year's Australian Open.
Top seed Serena Williams, bidding to become the first woman since Steffi Graf in 1988 to wrap up all four majors in one season, endured a nervy start and was warned for swearing before completing a 6-4, 6-1 win over Margarita Gasparyan, the world number 113 from Russia who has never won a tour-level match in four years as a professional.
Fourth seed Sharapova also reached the second round with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Britain's Johanna Konta.
Sharapova, the 2004 champion, will face Dutch qualifier Richel Hogenkamp for a place in the last 32.
Five-time champion Venus Williams wasn't to be outdone as the 34-year-old American took just 42 minutes to crush compatriot Madison Brengle 6-0, 6-0.
In the men's first round, Australia's 26th seed Nick Kyrgios, who knocked out Rafael Nadal last year, eased past Argentina's Diego Schwartzman 6-0, 6-2, 7-6 (8/6).
Germany's Tommy Haas, at 37 years and 100 days old, and who first played Wimbledon in 1997, beat Serbia's Dusan Lajovic 6-2, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 to become the oldest man to win a match at Wimbledon since Jimmy Connors (38 years 308 days) in 1991.
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