By Romi Cvitkovic
Day one of the Wimbledon Championships always holds surprise losses and inspiring wins, and Monday was no different as there was no shortage of excitement and frustration on the grounds of the All England Lawn Tennis Club.
Isner, Berdych crash out in openers
Sixth seeded Tomas Berdych and eleventh seeded John Isner saw their Wimbledon journeys end prematurely as both fell in their respective first round matches.
2010 runner-up Tomas Berdych suffered his earliest Wimbledon defeat in the last eight years when he lost to 87th-ranked Latvian Ernests Gulbis in straight sets, 6-7(5), 6-7(4), 6-7(4). The two had previously met on three occassions, with Berdych winning their most recent encounter last year in Nice on clay.
Gulbis took command early as he fired three aces in the first game alone and finished with 30 for the match. The players exchanged breaks of serve in the second set and were equally effective at the net. The difference lied in the rebounds. While Berdych hit a forehand long and then came back reeling another unforced error on the following point, Gulbis would hit a backhand wide and follow it up with an ace. As events transpired, Berdych two times found himself in a hole he could not climb out of before finally losing in the third set tiebreak. Berdych held only 30 winners to Gulbis’ 62.
Likewise, American John Isner faced a stalwart opponent in Alejandro Falla that proved too difficult to fend off. Falla is a tennis journeyman — one who typically plays lower-tiered tournaments and accrues enough points to play Slams, but rarely makes it past the second round at these prestigious events. At this same stage in 2010, Falla took Centre Court at Wimbledon and was two sets up on six-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer, before bowing out in five respectable sets. So it’s no wonder he took Isner to the brink, saved one match point, and won in five sets this time, 6-4, 6-7(7), 3-6, 7-6(7), 7-5.
Isner’s year has been filled with a variety of emotions as he beat Federer on clay in Switzerland one week and the following, found himself defeated by 38th-ranked Jurgen Melzer in an indoor hard court tournament. During his post-match press conference, Isner reflected on being his “own worst enemy.”
“Lately it’s happening quite a lot, [where] I get out there in the match and I’m just so clouded. I just can’t seem to figure things out. I’m my own worst enemy out there. It’s all mental for me, and it’s pretty poor on my part … I’ve got to get back to the drawing board and just sort of let things go and just try to play out there. It’s just like I’m wanting to win so much that I just I lose control and I lose focus on the process.”
Serbian men go 3-for-3; Serbian women falter
World number one and defending Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic regained his momentum this week as he took out former world number one Juan Carlos Ferrero, 6-3, 6-3, 6-1. The win was never in doubt as Djokovic won the opening set in 32 minutes. Djokovic will next face young American Ryan Harrison who defeated Rendy Lu in four sets. It will be a tough task to ask of Harrison to dethrone the champ.
Fellow Serb and eighth seeded Janko Tipsarevic dealt a heavy blow to Argentine David Nalbandian as he easily prevailed 6-4, 7-6(4), 6-2. Nalbandian reached the AEGON Championship final last weekend only to be defaulted as he kicked a sign, giving a linesman a bloody souvenir in his left leg. What was meant to be a competitive match, saw Nalbandian fail to take his chances, converting just one of nine break points. Tipsarevic will take on American Ryan Sweeting who played through qualifying to earn his spot.
While Djokovic and Tipsarevic earned quick victories, 34th-ranked Viktor Troicki was enveloped in a three-and-a-half-hour battle on Court 14 against 24th seed Marcel Granollers. After winning the first two sets tightly and serving eight aces, Troicki quickly went down the next two sets. Both men were spent as their winners-to-unforced errors ratio went into the negative, seeing only a combined nine winners in the fourth set. As the fifth set began, it was clear that the winner would have to take the match rather than let the loser lose as the match was decided by only a single point. In the end, Troicki was victorious winning 7-5, 7-6(5), 3-6, 2-6, 8-6. He will next face Martin Klizan who was earlier taken to 11-9 in the fifth set against Juan Ignacio Chela.
The Serbian women had mixed results on day one, as 18th seeded Jelena Jankovic was ousted in straight sets by Kim Clijsters, 6-2, 6-4, and newly-endorsed Serb Vesna Dolonc lost to Tsvetana Pironkova but not before a fight, 5-7, 6-0, 7-5. The only female to prevail was young hopeful Bojana Jovanovski when Eleni Daniilidou had to retire in the third set.
Sharapova shakes off late-match jitters
2012 Roland Garros champion Maria Sharapova kept her streak alive as she swept by Anastasia Rodionova with barely a bump, winning 6-2, 6-3. She was composed, rarely let a ball fall out of reach, and was on point for most of the match — that is until the seventh game of the second set. Up 6-2, 5-1 and serving for the match, Sharapova hit a backhand long, double faulted away the following point, hit a forehand unforced error and gave up the game on another double fault. In what should have been a routine closing for a world number one, the nerves started to show and she mentally got ahead of herself before the last point was played. Luckily, Sharapova reeled in her mental game and won the match fittingly on an ace in just over an hour on court.
Venus Williams out but not down
One-half of the Williams sisters’ dynasty bowed out as she succumbed to Elena Vesnina in the opening round of Wimbledon, losing 1-6, 3-6. Venus Williams, battling back from a career-threatening health condition, has displayed a fairytale comeback into the sport of tennis over the last three months. Returning to play in Miami this March after a six month hiatus, her results and character have quieted the unbelievers as she has reached the quarterfinals in three-of-five tournaments played this year.
“I’m up for challenges. I have great tennis in me. I just need the opportunity,” Venus explained. “There’s no way I’m just going to sit down and give up just because I have a hard time the first five or six freakin’ tournaments back. You know, that’s just not me.”
Although her time in the women’s singles draw here was short-lived, Venus is a four-time Wimbledon women’s doubles champion and has entered with sister Serena in the women’s doubles tournament this year. If they overcome their opener over the pairing of Vesna Dolonc and Olga Savchuk, they will be rewarded with 4th seeded Maria Kirilenko and Nadia Petrova.
Other notable results from Day One
- Roger Federer blazed through defeating Albert Ramos in one hour and nineteen minutes with a score of 6-1, 6-1, 6-1
- Women’s number three seed Agnieszka Radwanska made quick work of Magdalena Rybarikova, winning 6-3, 6-3
- Number five women’s seed Samantha Stosur defeat Carla Suarez Navarro, 6-1, 6-3
- Fernando Verdasco was victorious against Jimmy Wang, 7-6(3), 6-4, 7-5
- American youngster Sloane Stephens dispatched of Karolina Pliskova, 6-2, 6-2, as British youngster Heather Watson upset Iveta Benesova in similar fashion, 6-2, 6-1
- Last week’s Birmingham winner, Melanie Oudin fell to former Junior player standout Timea Babos, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3
- Women’s 17th seed Flavia Pennetta was ousted by fellow Italian Camila Giorgi, 6-4, 6-3
- 2011 Wimbledon semifinalist Sabine Lisicki defeated Petra Martic, 6-4, 6-2