Canada's Marino, Dubois post 1st Wimbledon wins

Canadians Rebecca Marino and Stephanie Dubois advanced to the second round at Wimbledon after posting their first career wins Tuesday at the All England club.

But Aleksandra Wozniak of Blainville, Que., struggling with her comeback from an elbow injury, lost her first-round match to Czech Barbora Zahlavova Strycova 7-6 (7), 6-4.

And Frank Dancevic of Niagara Falls, Ont., squandered two match points in a 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (6), 6-2 loss to Brazilian Ricardo Mello.

Marino, ranked 44th in the world, defeated No. 113 Patricia Mayr-Achleitner of Austria 6-3, 7-6 (5) in a contest that lasted just under 90 minutes.

The 20-year-old from Vancouver needed almost an hour to close out the second set, ending with eight aces but 21 unforced errors. But her go-for-broke style also produced 30 winners to make the difference.

"I think my game style suits the grass," said Marino. "This was not my best match, but not my worst either. I'm glad I made it through. And I've now won a match at every Grand Slam."

Marino credited her serve with getting her out of trouble. She had eight aces and was good on 60 per cent of her first serves.

"It helped me out," she said. "On a few break points I was able to come up with big serves to save myself."

Dubois beat American Irina Falconi 6-2, 6-2 in 67 minutes. The 24-year-old from Laval, Que., is ranked No. 122 in the world, compared to No. 109 for Falconi.

The match, which was postponed due to rain Monday, was only Dubois' second at a Grand Slam.

Dubois reached the second round of the U.S. Open in 2009 but went out in qualifying this season at the Australian and French Opens.

She advances to play 11th-seeded Andrea Petkovic of Germany.

"I've had good preparation, reaching the semis at the Nottingham Challenger," Dubois said. "I didn't give her a chance to get in control."

Dubois played a relatively clean match compared to her opponent, who committed 17 unforced errors and missed on her only break point chance.

Dubois advanced on her first match point, an overhead cross-court winner with Falconi well out of position on the opposite side of the court.

Wozniak's Wimbledon came to an unhappy early end.

"I'm very disappointed," she said. "I played badly and was not feeling the ball at all.

"It was very windy and she was a tough opponent. I had too many double-faults [eight] and too many unforced errors [32]."

Dancevic suffers heartbreak

Dancevic was bidding for his first Grand Slam win in three years.

The 26-year-old Canadian, who is making a comeback from back surgery, stood on the brink when he won the first two sets but was unable to convert match points in the fourth set during a marathon match that lasted for two and three-quarter hours.

Dancevic, ranked 164th, won his last match at a major against David Nalbandian of Argentina. He had to qualify last week and had three matches in hand on the grass.

He has now been defeated in his opening matches at Melbourne, Paris and London this season.

After sweeping the first two sets, Dancevic suddenly seemed to lose focus, dropping the third set to give Melo a chance to get back in.

Dancevic began to struggle but recovered from a fourth-set break (on a double-fault) in the 11th game, breaking back in the 12th to bring on the decider.

He worked his way to a pair of match points, but netted a forehand on the first and couldn't handle a return at his feet on the second.

His momentum fading, Dancevic was broken and trailed 3-1 in the fifth. He saved a match point but eventually put a forehand long.