IT’s fair to say that yesterday wasn’t one of the greatest days in the long and glorious history of Wimbledon.
Injuries, drop-outs and bad attitude dominated the landscape but there is always a new day and so we can look forward to the headline acts of British No.1s Andy Murray and Jo Konta lighting up Centre Court.
More tennis please!
THE chance to watch Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer on Centre Court at Wimbledon is a special pleasure for any tennis fan. Sadly, some of that joy was reduced yesterday as their opponents, Martin Klizan and Alexandr Dolgopolov, withdrew midway through the second set with injury. Novak and Roger advance but that is not the point.
The ‘Centre Court two’ were part of eight withdrawals across men’s and women’s singles in the first round. And that fails to include Australian Bernard Tomic, who was easily beaten and said afterwards he was lacking motivation.
We all know tennis is a tough sport, but something is not right here. Are players going to the court less than 100% fit? Absolutely. Are players starting matches that they know they can’t finish simply to bag a cheque for £35,000? That is the big question, which only the players know. For example, that money is more than semi-finalists would have received at last week’s warm-up event in Eastbourne. Think of the lucky losers, who if perfectly fit, could have given their all in the biggest match of their life. The issue has already appeared at the other Grand Slams and tennis’ four biggest events need to act before the integrity of their tournaments is called into question.
No time for a dreadlock holiday
ANYWAY, onto to today’s action. Andy Murray is back on court in an entertaining-looking match against Dustin Brown. Brown was born in Germany to a Jamaican father and German mother, but his tennis is more Montego Bay than Munich. With his long dreadlocks and sleeveless T-shirts, he gives the impression of being on the beach and he brings a sense of fun to the court.
Brown has previously beaten Wimbledon Champions Lleyton Hewitt and Rafa Nadal on these courts, but he’s aiming for the biggest scalp of the lot. He has a big serve and plays lots of volleys and drop shots and certainly breaks the mould of the modern tennis player. It’s a different challenge for Murray, but the Scot will surely want to show off his repertoire of shots, too, while progressing to the next round.
More revenge for Konta
IN THE first round, Jo Konta avenged her first round defeat at the French Open to Su Wei Hsieh of Taiwan. Now she plays Donna Vekic, the young Croatian who beat her in the final of the recent grass-court event in Nottingham.
Vekic is only ranked 58th, but she is more dangerous than that suggests, so Konta will certainly be on her guard. The other notable thing about Vekic is that her boyfriend is Swiss male player Stan Wawrinka. He was knocked out on Monday, but let’s see if he has hung around in London to take his place in the player’s box this afternoon.
Brit watch
WITH Murray and Konta headlining Centre Court, Heather Watson leads off on Court 2 with a tricky match against Anastasija Sevastova, the No.18 seed from Latvia. While on Court 3, Aljaz Bedene takes on Bosnian Damir Dzumhur.
It’s also the start of the doubles with a number of Brits competing, including last year’s fairytale story Marcus Willis, alongside young partner Jay Clarke.
Seed in danger
NORMALLY a match against a qualifier would have Kei Nishikori feeling very confident. But the No.9 seed from Japan should be wary of Sergiy Stakhovsky. Just ask Roger Federer all about this guy – Stakhovskiy took him out on Centre Court at this stage in 2013.
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