Wednesday 1 July 2015

Round one done - lessons learned

What have we gained from watching the first round of singles matches at Wimbledon 2015, apart from the beginnings of a fortnights insufficient sleep ?

We now know that Petra Kvitova has found her path to a title defence, and third Wimbledon crown much clearer with the shock dismissal of third seed Simona Halep.  Eugenie Bouchard, last year's runner-up, also departed in round one, but that sadly has become her MO for 2015.

Kvitova, Kerber, Lisicki and others wasted little time in parcelling up the necessary two sets and earning second round spots, while recent top ten debutant Carla Suarez-Navarro, proved that grass is not her surface by leaving the singles competition immediately to concentrate on her doubles obligations.

Serena lost more games than Venus, who actually gave away none, and the two sisters could meet in the fourth round.

Not as much to be put in the knowledge bank from the men's openers, other than confirmation for the thousandth time of Lleyton Hewitt's fighting abilities.  After losing the fourth set 6-0 to Nieminen, the Aussie didn't fade away, grinding out the final stanza for twenty games only to lose the match but not any admirers.  I especially liked Sharapova's remarks in praise of Hewitt's contribution to the game over two decades.

Another Australian, John Millman, removed Spain's Tommy Robredo, seeded 19, in a straight sets upset, but it should be noted that Tommys Wimbledon record is hardly memorable - his best effort in 14 attempts was a fourth round loss last year.

The top seeds performed well, and in reality, the practice hitting partners may have provided greater opposition for Novak, Andy etc. (apologies to Kohlschreiber whose effort against the defending champion deserves some praise)
Tsonga and Nishikori each did struggle for five sets before deciding to stick around for a little while longer, while others of lesser ability donated five setters which were just excruciating.

Second round contests promise continued surprises and more great tennis - hopefully the standard of the press conferences lifts because the players deserve more intelligent and relevant questioning.

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