By the numbers: Kerber falls, Wozniacki rolls in returns to Wimbledon

There were mixed fortunes for two former World No.1s in their returns to Wimbledon on Tuesday. 2018 champion Angelique Kerber was beaten in straight sets by Birmingham champion Yulia Putintseva, while Caroline Wozniacki earned her first Wimbledon win in five years over qualifier Alycia Parks.

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Both Kerber and Wozniacki were returning to SW19 after respective long hiatuses: Kerber last played in 2022 before giving birth last year, and Wozniacki spent five years away from the All England Club after her January 2020 retirement. And both drew in-form players: The same week that Putintseva won her third career Hologic WTA Tour singles title in Birmingham, Parks was winning a WTA 125 title on grass in Gaiba, Italy -- and parlayed that form into three wins last week at Roehampton to reach her second Wimbledon main draw.

But while Kerber was edged in a tight two-setter 7-5, 6-3, Wozniacki needed just 53 minutes to romp to a 6-2, 6-0 win -- putting aside any doubts about her fitness level after she was forced to retire against Emma Navarro in the quarterfinals of Bad Homburg just six days ago.

More key numbers from the two contrasting first-round matches included: 

3: Kerber and Putintseva each won three straight games in the first set. The Kazakh raced out to a 3-0 lead, before Kerber pegged her back to 3-3. After winning back-to-back games to sneak the first set, Putintseva also won the last three games of the match.

4: Putintseva and Kerber have now played four times, and have split those meetings Kerber won the first two, but Putintseva has now won the last two. Nine years lapsed between their first two meetings (2010 and 2019), and they've played twice more over the last two calendar years.

5: Wozniacki broke Parks' serve five times in five opportunities, and never faced a break point herself. She lost just five points behind her first serve, and five more behind her second, in seven service games. 

6: Putintseva has now won her last six grass-court matches. After winning in Birmingham, she withdrew from Bad Homburg.

7: In seven tournaments since losing to Wozniacki in the fourth round of the WTA 1000 BNP Paribas Open -- in what was a resurgent tournament for both players -- Kerber has lost in the first round six times.

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9: Wozniacki won the last nine games of her match, and surrendered just seven points in the second set. 

13: Kerber last lost in the first round of Wimbledon 13 years ago, in 2011. Later that summer, she announced herself to the tennis world at large with a run to the US Open semifinals when ranked World No.92.

33: Parks hit 33 unforced errors in just 14 games, more than enough to guide Wozniacki through an emphatic victory. The American also landed just 38% of her first serves.

"I knew I was going to play a big server and big hitter today, so I was prepared for that," Wozniacki said afterwards. "Just tried to get as many balls in play as possible, and I was very pleased with my return game today specifically.

"I think I got a lot of first serve returns in play, and I think that definitely must have been frustrating for her.

"I'm just happy to be through to the next round. You know, when you play a girl like that, you just never know what to expect. That was just a match that I needed to get through. Keep my head down, keep my focus all the way through, and that was really that."