olympic notebook News and notes from London

Tennis: Maria Sharapova won her Olympic debut indoors, beating Shahar Peer of Israel 6-2, 6-0, and Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and David Ferrer were among the seeded winners on the men’s side at Wimbledon. Sharapova carried the Russian flag in the opening ceremony after missing the 2008 Olympics because of a shoulder injury. Play was curtailed because of rain, with 32 matches postponed before they started and four suspended in progress. Only 12 matches were completed.

Volleyball: So far, so good for the defending champion U.S. men’s team, which opened Olympic play by sweeping Serbia behind Matt Anderson’s 18 points Captain Clay Stanley added 13 points in the 25-17, 25-22, 25-21 victory at Earls Court.

Also, Bulgaria swept Britain, 25-18, 25-20, 26-24, and Russia defeated Germany 31-29, 25-18, 25-17. Australia, coached by Jon Uriarte, lost to Argentina 25-21, 25-22, 25-20. Son Nicolas Uriarte is a setter on the Argentine team.

Equestrain: Zara Phillips, the granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth II, wowed the home crowd and a few relatives in her Olympic equestrian debut. The 31-year-old Phillips registered a slight mistake on her appropriately named horse, High Kingdom, and earned 46.1 penalty points at Greenwich Park, placing her 24th out of 74 riders with two disciplines to go in the eventing dressage competition.

Diving: Wu Minxia and partner He Zi won the first diving gold medal of the Olympics, moving China one step closer to a sweep of the eight events in London. They led throughout the five-dive round and totaled 346.20 points in the 3-meter synchronized event. Abby Johnston and Kelci Bryant finished second with 321.90 points, ending America’s diving medal drought that extended to the 2000 Sydney Games. It was the first Olympic synchro medal for the U.S.

Skeet: Kimberly Rhode also put on a show at the Royal Artillery Barracks, winning the gold medal in women’s skeet shooting to become the first American to take an individual-sport medal in five consecutive Olympics. Rhode tied the world record and set an Olympic mark with 99 points. She also set an Olympic record in qualifying, missing only one of her 75 shots.

Associated Press