WIMBLEDON 2010 DIARY: Close of Day 1
Keeping up with expectations, the opening day of Wimbledon proved to be the best way to start a championship. Queues could be witnessed for miles, with people pitching tents overnight to try and catch a glimpse of their favourite stars. The media mayhem began with photographers trying to snap the players during practice matches and of course the pundits were hard at work trying to predict the outcome. Day one commenced on the lush lawns of the All England Club in SW19 with the sun shining bright and clear skies. All in all it was the perfect day for tennis and it did not disappoint.
The first serve struck at noon on June 21, 2010. Court number two saw the comeback queen Kim Clijsters crush Maria Elena Camerin of Italy, losing just three games on her way to victory. Clijsters, who came out of a two and a half year retirement, did not face a single break point during the game. Furthermore, her strong baseline game made Clijsters the dominant force during the match and on Camerin’s second serve won twelve out of fifteen points. Twelfth seed Nadia Petrova went past German Tatjana Malek 6-4, 6-3. However, Patty Schneider did not have the same luck as she crashed out to Yung-Jan Chan of Taipei, 6-0, 6-2. French hopes rest on the shoulders of eleventh seed Marion Bartoli who did not disappoint as she won her first round encounter against unknown German Julia Gorges 6-4, 6-3.
Venus Williams began her search for her sixth Wimbledon title on Court number one. Her late evening encounter against Paraguay’s Rossana De Los Rios proved to be a breeze as she crushed her 6-3, 6-2. Williams smashed six aces and forty three winners on her way to victory.
It was not all strawberries and cream in the women’s draw either. French Open champion Francesca Schiavone came into Wimbledon riding on an air of confidence, however she could not translate that into victory. She became the first casualty in the women’s draw crashing out to Russian Vera Dushineva 6-7, 7-5, 6-1. The fifth seed could not maintain the momentum from the French open and was knocked out by the forty seventh ranked Russian. One hit wonder Ana Ivanonic failed yet another test as she crashed out to Israel’s Shahar Peer 6-3, 6-4.
Play on the all important centre court commenced at 1pm, with the defending champion coming out on the court among loud cheer. That cheer soon subsided when the champion came three points close to ending his Wimbledon run. His challenger Columbian Alejandro Falla pushed Federer to the limit, losing in five sets. It proved to be a firecracker of a match, picking up where it left off. The last time Federer was on centre court he pulled off a victory after five sets, with the final going to 16-14. The storyline seemed similar, just the opponent was different.
It unfolded as a day of top seed comebacks as world number three Novak Djokovic also had a close call. As predicted, Belgian Olivier Rochus gave Djokovic a serious fright. Playing under lights and the newly inducted roof, Djokovic had to play five sets to ward off defeat and win the first round. Rochus put on a fight but Djokovic eventually prevailed 4-6 6-2 3-6 6-4 6-2. World number five Nicholas Davydenko had to come from behind to beat South African Kevin Anderson 3-6, 6-7(3), 7-6(3), 7-5, 9-7
Other men’s seeds that had a relatively easy run in the first round were fifth seed American Andy Roddick and Australian Leyton Hewitt. Andy Roddick defeated his American compatriot Rajeev Ram losing just seven games 6-3,6-2,6-2. During the match Roddick committed only ten unforced errors, struck forty nine winners and did not face a single break point. Hewitt, on the other hand started off slow but eventually caught up and defeated Argentinean Maximo Gonzales 5-7,6-0,6-2, 6-2 on court number two action.
But it was the end of the road for eleventh seed Marin Cilic, who could not keep up with German Florian Mayer. Cilic became the first seed to tumble out of the men’s draw as he lost 6-2, 6-4, and 7-6(1)
Day one proved to be a firecracker, with seeds tumbling and innumerable close calls. With the tournament commencing on such a high note, the expectations from the rest of the championship are sure to exceed. Fans have some high quality tennis to look forward on day two with the greats of the game, Serena Williams, Rafael Nadal and Robin Soderling among others taking the court.
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