The first round of Wimbledon was business as usual for most of the top seeds. Here is a review of the tennis transactions that went on.
Andy Murray had the center court on their feet as the prospect of 365 years of hurt coming to an end. One by one, as Murray entered the arena, the crowd got to their feet and gave a standing ovation, the likes of which Martina Navratilova said she had never seen given to a defending champion.
The ovation was no surprise. For while Murray may have dropped to 5 in the rankings and not won a title, not even made a final in fact, since his ending 77 years of hurt last year, anyone who knows anything about tennis knows if the draw falls apart, if inexperience gets the better of any opponents at the business end of the fortnight, Murray has the tools, the experience, and the crowd support to take full advantage.
Standing ovation over, it was time for Murray and his opponent, the 2012 French Open Lucky loser David Goffin who made the fourth round, to run each other round the ‘hallowed turf.’ If Goffin had a winner for each time the lawns of SW19 were described as such, he would have done a lot better than trailing 0-3 in the first set.
Goffin tried his best to get some winners of his own, but too often he rushed, went for too much and too often Murray had him sussed and hustled. The first two sets went by in a flash and though Goffin had tied his shoelaces and buttoned up his collar by the third, he could only take it to 5-7 before shaking hands with Murray at the net as the crowd once more got to their feet.
Six rounds to go before the hurt is over. Six more standing ovations?
Grades: Murray: A. Defending a slam is tough. With the injuries and the pressure on him, Murray did well to get it over in straights.
Goffin: C. Earned from his third set effort. Still some way to go before his heyday of 2012 RG, but at 24 there is plenty of time for him to work things out.
Rafael Nadal dropped the first set to KIizan, dropping his serve at 4-4 on a double fault as the pressure of the big returning world no.51 took its toll. Early in the second, with Klizan taking on and breaking down the Nadal forehand with his own impressive weapon on the same side, it looked like Nadal’s trend of early exits at Wimbledon might continue. But the Spaniard fought hard, cut down his errors and benefitted from those of his opponent to take the second and then the outcome never looked in doubt.
Nadal: B-. The world no.1 did very well to avoid another early defeat but looked vulnerable before his second round rematch with his 2012 conqueror Lukas Rosol.
Klizan: C. Did great to take the first set. Put in a good effort the rest of the match, but lost his grip on it in the second.
Viktoria Azarenka, the former no.1 and grand slam champ, won her fist match since the Australian Open. She beat Lucic-Baroni, the 1999 semi-finalist and former phenom, to do it. Lucic threatened at times to run her close, but the consistency and depth of shot Azarenka employed to reach no.1 and win 2 slams proved to be invaluable.
Azararenka- A: Lucic is no pushover in the first round- she knocked out Bartoli in 2012- so a top grade for no.8 seed.
Lucic-B: At times it looked like Lucic was ready to cause another big upset until she lost her way late in the second over a controversial line call.
Maria Kirilenko knocked out Sloane Stephens in round 1 in straights. The former top tenner looked likr she had all the experience in the world under her belt as she survived dropping five match points to close it out in a second set breaker.
Kirilenko-A: Stephens had made the last sixteen of her last six slams, and was adept at beating players ranked below her on the big stage. She was also a quarter-finalist here last year. Quite the upset for Kirilenko.
Stephens- D: Losing to Kirilenko is no shame, but it is quite a step back for Stephens after such a prolonged period of slam success.
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