Top seed Serena Williams got her Wimbledon 2010 campaign going with an easy straight sets victory over Michelle Larcher De Brito, 6-0, 6-4, in the first round of the tourney, played at the All-England Club. The American next faces Anna Chakvetadze of Russia in the second round.
Chakvetadze, the former world number five player, took care of her own first round business by beating Andrea Petkovic, to set up the second round meet with the reigning Wimbledon champion. She had a bit of a tougher time, requiring an additional set before winning, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, in a little under two hours.
World number one Williams has never lost in the first round of a Grand Slam. She continued that trend in a dominating fashion and looks to be in great form to capture a second straight Wimbledon title. Chakvetadze is going to have her hands full with Williams, who has admitted to loving the grass surface of Wimbledon.
Look for Williams to have an easy second round match. A similar result to her first round romp is very probable. In fact, an even easier win could very well happen, especially since Williams now has a good feel for how the courts play. Chakvetadze felt under pressure in her first match, and she’s sure to feel a whole lot more of that from Williams than with Petkovic.
Williams’s game is suited to grass. Her powerful serve, one of the best in women’s tennis, if not the best, is the backbone of her winning points. If it’s not an ace or service winner, the opponent returns it weakly and the advantage immediately goes to Williams in dictating the point. Add that to the fact that she volleys well and her baseline groundstrokes are aggressive and powerful. Chakvetadze is going to have a difficult time breaking Williams’ serve, which she needs to do if she wants to be successful.
Chakvetadze and Williams have only faced each other one previous time, with the Russian winning when Williams retired after losing the first set. This is not indicative of the full-strength and in-form Williams that Chakvetadze is going to face. In contrast, Chakvetadze is out of form currently, being ranked number 111 in the world and unseeded in Wimbledon, despite being a former world number five player – a truly major drop in form.
The American’s serve looks to be on target in the early stages of the tournament. In the first round, she hit 64% of her first serves in, along with 15 aces, which is a high number for the women’s game. A very telling statistic is that she won all 27 points on her first serve, showing her utter dominance and control when her first serve is in. Chakvetadze has no chance of winning if Williams’ serve is at the same quality come their match.
On the other hand, Chakvetadze committed 24 unforced errors in her first round match, while only hitting 28 winners. This says that she was not aggressive enough. In facing Williams, she cannot allow the defending champion to dictate all the points and just be content in defending – she will get punished for that. She must find a way to lessen her errors and keep her shots honest and deep enough for Williams to have trouble with. Williams is a very aggressive player who hits a lot of winners, but can also commit a high number of unforced errors with her style.
Bold Prediction: Williams advances in the second round with straight sets victory over Chakvetadze.
That said, Williams will still have an easy time in the second round. She is too determined and focused and her game is at a much higher level.
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