Wimbledon day two women’s draw preview
The first round of Wimbledon wraps up on day two of the tournament, and as the field is cut in half, we highlight two of the matches to watch.
Serena Williams v Michelle Larcher de Brito
Serena Williams begins her Wimbledon title defence against a teenager who made waves with the volume of her grunting at the 2009 French Open. Larcher de Brito’s assault on the eardrums as she connected with the ball drew several complaints from third-round opponent Aravane Rezai, of France,m who ultimately won the match but it was the young Portuguese player who gained notoriety.
The world No. 1 is hardly the quiet type on the court either, so this may be one to turn down the volume or bring the earplugs for, depending on your vantage point for the match.
Aside from emitting sounds that put some of the best-known grunters in the game (think Monica Seles and Maria Sharapova) to shame, the 17-year-old is actually a pretty promising player, as a ranking that has so far peaked at world No. 76 shows, although she’s currently the world No. 148.
Serena enters this match both with the end goal of winning back-to-back Wimbledon titles, but the immediate one of ensuring she maintains a perfect winning record in the first round of the majors. So how is she going to handle the Portuguese No. 1?
“I do the best I can, play the best I can. Nothing else I can do,” Serena told the media before the tournament began.
Caroline Wozniacki v Tathiana Garbin
Does a first-round loss at Eastbourne leave Wozniacki potentially vulnerable to an inglorious exit from Wimbledon in her first match of the tournament? Probably not. The third seed wasn’t in great form heading into the French Open – where doubts over her fitness followed her into the tournament – but still secured an easy victory over Garbin in the second round there in the only match the pair have played against one another so far.
At 32, with 10 previous Wimbledon attempts behind her, Garbin has never progressed beyond the second round, so whatever questions may linger over Wozniacki’s grass-court form heading into the tournament, she should get through this one.
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