Wimbledon 2010: Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, and other top seeds tested early on, Isner and Mahut play longest match in the history of tennis
There was a time when Wimbledon was known for its fast clean finished. Top seeds would breeze through their early matches, and most of the times reach the finals without dropping a set. However, the year 2010 has been playing to a different tune altogether. Ever since its commencement, spectators have been witnessing gruelling five-setters and some very close calls. Top seeds have had to battle their way into the next rounds and have had to play their best tennis to keep their hopes alive in the tournament.
Perhaps, the most talked about five-setter in this years’ championship will be the epic marathon between John Isner and Nicholas Mahut. It was the longest five-set match in the history of tennis that lasted for eleven hours and five minutes. Isner prevailed in the final set 70-68. This match will become the identity of Wimbledon 2010. However, turning our attention to the top seeded players, they have not had an easy ride at SW19 this year.
The first one who was put to test, surprisingly, was defending champion Roger Federer. Federer was three-points short of being eliminated in the first round by unknown Columbian Alejandro Falla, when he came from two sets down to beat his challenger. It was unusual for Federer to start off his Wimbledon title defence in this way, as the Columbian stepped up the pressure on the champion. After the match was over, Federer admitted that he was not used to playing such a tough first round encounter. Similarly, third seed Novak Djokovic had a similar fate in his opening match on Day one. His challenger Olivier Rochus from Belgium gave him a run for his money. Djokovic was pushed to the limit until he overcame his opponent in five long sets. Djokovic was two sets to one down before he was forced to up his game and finally go through to round two. Top seeds are used to playing such long encounters in the later stages of the tournament. The reason for that is that they have saved up enough fuel for those rounds. With the players playing such long matches in the onset of the tournament, how much steam would they have left for week two?
Rafael Nadal, was riding on an air of confidence as he whizzed past his first round opponent without dropping a single set. This was a signal of his strength to the other seeds that struggled in the first round. However, this exhilaration was short lived. Robin Hasse, Nadal’s second round challenger handed him the same fate suffered by the others. Hasse, who was the conqueror of James Blake, took the first set from Nadal. The twenty three year old from Netherlands was up to the challenge as he fired twenty eight aces compared to Nadal’s five. He mixed around his shots making it difficult for Nadal to read him. But Nadal was in no mood to throw away the match as he broke Hasse in the opening game of the second set and took the set. The Dutchman’s resolve was not broken as he returned Nadal’s expected winners with ease and took set three. Nadal did not succumb to pressure and put his game into high gear. With Nadal firing back, he took the final two sets giving away just five games. Five sets later, Nadal was in round three but not without putting up a fight.
Former Australian Open runner up Jo Wilfried Tsonga too needed five sets to beat Ukraine's Alexandr Dolgopolov. Dolgopolov, although lost the match, but will be very proud with his Wimbledon debut. His quick pace and fast serve matched him up with Tsonga’s expertise. His stroke play was brilliant however it was Tsonga’s experience that actually helped him pull through 6-4,6-4,7-6,7-5,10-8. It took Tsonga almost four hours to show the debutant the door.
With only four days down and seven left to go, players are increasing their time on court much to their dismay. The top seeds want to be in perfect shape before the last round of matches, but with these newbie’s on the circuit pushing them to the limit, only the strongest among the seeds look to survive.
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