Wimbledon Day 2 - Battling Brits Follow Murray Through

The thermometer on Centre Court read 41 degrees, but there was no major meltdown from Britain’s number one Andy Murray who opened up his Wimbledon campaign with a straight sets victory.

There were times when he was forced to battle and grind against his Kazakh opponent Mikhail Kukushkin, a player who has been lingering around the world’s top 50 for the last few years. However after a couple of minor blips and just over 2 hours of play Wimbledon’s dependable home favourite had surpassed the 1^st round for the tenth time in his career, winning 6-4 7-6(3) 6-4.



Britain's Andy Murray in first round action

For a set and a half the passage to round two appeared relatively straightforward, as Murray quickly rediscovered the impressive form which helped him lift the Queens Club title a week ago.

A break of serve when leading 5-4 in the first set was ideal; another at the start of the second gave the impression that this would be another routine victory, just like the ones produced by Petra Kvitova and Roger Federer who had graced the Centre Court surroundings earlier in the day. 

With Murray leading by a set and 3-0, there was a real possibility that the order of play in the main arena, which included two men’s and one women’s match,  could be done and dusted by as early as five o’clock such was the one sided nature. 

A Murray victory would have been at the top of most agendas, but a decent match would have also come pretty high up the pecking order. To Kukushkin’s credit the crowd received both, as the world number 58 broke back instantly.  

That was just the start of a puzzling run of games and from Murray’s point of view things turned a little messy. After reclaiming his advantage the Brit served for a two set lead, at 30-0 it appeared only a matter of time.   

Yet in an extraordinary turn of events, Kukushkin suddenly ceased the tide. He let loose on his groundstrokes, as his flat shot trajectory zipped through grass, which remains in a slick and verdant condition.

The Kazakh went on to break Murray not once but twice as the Brit’s serve deserted him, allowing Kukushkin to serve for the set at 6-5 up. In the end it was an opportunity not taken and when Murray finally clinched the set on a tiebreak normal service resumed.

A single break was enough in the third as Murray advanced to a second round match with Dutchman Robin Haase “It was a tough match. I made it hard for myself in the second set" added Murray.

There was even more British success on the outside courts as Heather Watson, James Ward and Aljaz Bedene all joined Murray in round two. Watson was first to advance in the women’s singles after beating the 32^nd seed Caroline Garcia 8-6 in the third set following the match’s delay due to bad light on Monday.

Bedene, who was playing his first Grand Slam match as a Brit since switching nationality from Slovenia in March, beat Czech Radek Stepanek in five sets. Meanwhile Ward, who has been renowned  for his impressive Davis Cup performances in recent years, recovered from a set down to overcome Italy’s Luca Vanni 6-7 (4-7) 6-2 6-4 6-3.

In the men’s draw there were straight set victories for Federer and Rafael Nadal, while Jo-Wilfred Tsonga pulled through against Gilles Muller in five sets. There were more major shocks in the women’s draw as Eugenie Bouchard lost to Ying-Ying Duan and 3^rd seed Simona Halep fell to Jana Cepelova from Slovakia.

 

 

 

Wimbledon Day 1 - Djokovic Off The Mark

You can only imagine Philipp Kohlschreiber’s reaction when he received the news that he had been handed a first round match against the defending Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic.  This was the first time the 31 year old German hadn’t been seeded at a major for over two years, just his luck that when it happened he was drawn against the world number one.

World number 1 Novak Djokovic celebrates taking the 1st set

Kohlschreiber is currently ranked 33^rd in the world, one place higher and he would have been seeded and avoided this nightmare opener. From Djokovic’s point of view this was the toughest possible first round match, nevertheless after just over two hours the Serb had returned to the locker room without a scar in sight after prevailing 6-4 6-4 6-4 .

It wasn’t totally one sided and there were still signs of rust in Djokovic’s game, that was to be expected considering he was playing his first competitive match since his heart-breaking loss to Stanislas Wawrinka in the French Open final over three weeks ago.  

Even after his break, Djokovic must still have flashbacks about that draining defeat in Paris. There may have even been some hallucinations here, as Kohlschreiber struck some admirable one handed backhands in the opening exchanges similar to the ones Wawarika viciously ripped in the French capital.

After dropping his serve in the second game, the writing appeared to be on the wall from the word go for Kohlschreiber, however he broke back immediately to tip the set back in the balance. Some tantalising rallies followed as the German tussled and probed with his effective slice backhand, as the Serb continued to find his feet.

But this is Novak Djokovic, the man who has claimed eight Grand Slam titles and is currently lifting the game to new heights.  As great champions often do the Serb pounced at the business end of the set, though on this occasion Kohlschreiber gave him a helping hand, serving two double faults when trailing 5-4 in the first set which Djokovic abruptly stole.

From there it was a case of dusting off the cobwebs as Djokovic began to turn the screw. Just like in the first set he broke Kohlschreiber’s serve when leading 5-4, though this had more to do with Djokovic’s brilliance rather than the German’s generosity as a sensational lob and trademark Djokovic backhand gave him a two set lead.

The pair traded breaks at the start of the third set but that didn’t stop it going the same way as the first two, as Djokovic took his chances to avert the unpredictably of a tiebreak.

Kohlschreiber can only attempt to notch up his ranking a place before the US Open in a few months’ time, failing that he’ll have to hope he avoids Djokovic at the first hurdle.  Meanwhile the top seed will now face Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen who ended Lleyton Hewitt’s last ever Wimbledon before his retirement in five sets.

From a British point of view the big story of the day was the victory for Grand Slam debutant Liam Broady who fought back from two sets down to beat Australian Marinko Matosevic on court 18. "The crowd was fantastic - they made the experience" said the 21 year old after the match.

However there was less joy for Liam’s sister Naomi who was competing in the women’s singles but lost to Colombian Mariana Duque-Marino. Johanna Konta was always going face an uphill battle against Maria Sharapova while Heather Watson’s match with Caroline Garcia was topped at one set all. There were also wins for Wawrinka, Grigor Dimitrov and Serena Williams on day one.   

2015 Wimbledon Preview

Can you believe it’s almost been two years since Andy Murray made history by becoming the first British male to win Wimbledon since 1936? Still feels like yesterday, as do several other cherished memories which linger around London’s SW19. 

The 2014 Mens Champion Novak Djokovic


Well it’s that time again. The grass is cut, the draw has been made and in a days’ time the shackles will be off. Permutations are already being made, with many looking ahead to a possible Murray, Nadal quarter final or a Sharapova, Williams match up in the Semis. But they remain a long way off, with some appetizing first round encounters to consider first. 

In the men’s draw it’s hard to look past the top three seeds, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Andy Murray, considering their success and consistency at the All England Club. It would certainly signal a large momentum shift in the men’s game if someone ranked lower were to lift the title in a fortnight’s time.

Even so there have been signs in the past few majors that the dominance of the so called “Big Four” (Djokovic, Federer, Murray and Nadal) is nearing its end. Nadal is seeded an unprecedented tenth and could face Murray in the last eight; Stanislas Wawrinka (seeded 4^th) lifted his second Grand Slam at the French Open a few weeks ago while Marin Cilic (seeded 9^th) claimed his first major at the US Open last September.   

The top names don’t have it easy in the opening rounds either. Djokovic will begin his defence of the title with a tricky first round match against German Philipp Kohlschreiber before a potential second round encounter with Australian veteran Lleyton Hewitt, who will be competing at Wimbledon for the last time. Murray, who lies in the bottom half of the draw along with Federer and Nadal, faces Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin in round one before a potential fourth round with Jo-Wilfred Tsonga, although the Frenchman will have to come through a tricky match with Gilles Müller in his first match.

Federer will be the strong favourite to come through his opening match with world number 87 Damir Dzumhur but could face 6 ft 6 American Sam Querrey in round two, who won the Aegon Championships at the Queens Club back in 2010. Looking further ahead, grass court specialist Feliciano Lopez could be waiting for the Swiss in round four while 6^th seed Tomas Berdych could emerge as a quarter-final opponent.

Other names to look out for include Canadian Milos Raonic (seeded 7^th) and Grigor Dimitrov (seeded 11^th) who showed their pedigree on grass last year by reaching the semi-finals and the pair could meet in round 4 this time around. Despite his patchy form and world ranking of 10 Nadal could still have a major say if he survives the early rounds, his likely second round match with the flamboyant Dustin Brown and that should be an intriguing match to watch.

The women’s draw is a little more unpredictable and is more likely to produce a new Grand Slam champion due to its best of three set format. Even so the familiar favourites will take some stopping. Top seed Serena Williams will be attempting to win her sixth Wimbledon title and add to major titles she claimed in Australia and France earlier this year.  The American begins her campaign against Russian qualifier Margarita Gasparyan; however her first test could come in the fourth round where she is seeded to play her sister Venus.

Maria Sharapova hasn’t won the Wimbledon title since she claimed it as a 17 year old back in 2004. Seeded fourth this time around the Russian is likely to have the home crowd against her when she takes on Britain’s Johanna Konta in round one. Sharapova may be on course to face Williams in the last four, but the Russian hasn’t reached that stage for four years and could face French Open runner-up Lucie Safarova in the quarter finals.

Other names to look out for in the top half include 18 year old Swiss Belinda Bencic ,who has surged up the rankings in 2015 and won the Eastbourne title this week, and double Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka who both lie in the same quarter as the 7^th  seeded Serb Ana Ivanovic.

The bottom half of the draw appears harder to predict, last year’s champion Petra Kvitova (seeded 2^nd) has a great game for grass and will be expected to compete in the later stages once again. However her preparation hasn’t been ideal after illness forced her to withdraw from this week’s tournament at Eastbourne.

Kvitova’s crown could be lost in round four when she is seeded to face Poland Agnieszka Radwanska, who was the runner-up at Eastbourne. Last year’s runner-up Eugenie Bouchard (seeded 12^th) will be under pressure to defend the points she earned twelve months ago after a difficult start to this year.

Third seed Simona Halep and fifth seed Caroline Wozniacki will both be in the hunt to claim their first major, although grass isn’t considered either ones strongest surface. Halap has the 2013 runner up Sabine Lisicki in her quarter of the draw. Another player to keep an eye on is the big serving American Madison Keys who could meet Bouchard in round three.