Wimbledon 2016: Kei Nishikori, Milos Raonic cruise; Garbine Muguruza labours to win

London: Milos Raonic eased into the Wimbledon second round with a 7-6 (7/4), 6-2, 6-4 victory over Pablo Carreno Busta in front of new coach and All England Club legend John McEnroe on Monday.

Canadian sixth seed Raonic hired three-time Wimbledon champion McEnroe earlier this month in a bid to hone his game for the grass-court Grand Slam.

The fast grass of Wimbledon suits 25-year-old Raonic’s game, as he showed when he reached the Wimbledon semi-finals in 2014. And, under McEnroe’s tutelage, he had shown further progress on the surface at Queen’s Club earlier this month, when he reached the final before narrowly losing to world number two Andy Murray.

With McEnroe watching on Court Two, Raonic stayed in the groove with a comfortable start to his Wimbledon campaign. Raonic will play Italy’s Andreas Seppi for a place in the last 32.

French Open champion Garbine Muguruza reached the Wimbledon second round on Monday with a 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 win over Italy’s Camila Giorgi.

The second seeded Spaniard, who was runner-up to Serena Williams in 2015, goes on to face Slovakian qualifier Jana Cepelová for a place in the last 32. It was Muguruza’s first win since her maiden Grand Slam triumph at Roland Garros after she lost in her first match at the Mallorca Open earlier this month.

Kei Nishikori started his bid to finally make a strong run at Wimbledon with a 6-4, 6-3, 7-5 first round victory over Australia’s Sam Groth on Monday.

Nishikori pulled out of Wimbledon last year due to a leg injury and it remains the only Grand Slam where the Japanese star has failed to reach at least the quarter-finals.

The 26-year-old’s wretched record of one last 16 appearance in seven attempts is a stark contrast to his impressive form on the other surfaces, which includes finishing as US Open runner-up in 2014.

But fifth seed Nishikori, recovered from the rib injury that forced him to withdraw from the recent Halle tournament, looks in the mood to enjoy a run to the latter stages after sweeping aside Groth to set up a second round clash with France’s Julien Benneteau.