The first round isn’t exactly over with rain suspending play, but the second round does start today so it’s time to review.
The biggest upset so far has been Rublev losing to the Argentine Comesana in four sets. Rublev was not going to win the title and had a quite challenging draw but a first round upset is a shock, and to Comesana, too, who’d never won an ATP main draw match.
Another surprise was Korda losing in five to lucky loser Mpetschi Perricard. Something is really up with Korda for him to go out like that after his recent good form. Perricard does have an enormous serve, which helps on grass, but Korda should have had the experience and skills to win a five setter and he had plenty of chances to get ahead during the match, failing to convert 11 break points. Unfortunately for him, Perricard had nothing to lose and plenty of desire.
2021 semifinalist Shapovalov upset 19th seed Jarry in straights. That SF run seems a while ago now and the Canadian has slumped since then so this win is very encouraging for his fans.
Monfils beat Mannarino, the 22nd seed, to set up an old timers match vs Wawrinka in round 2. That is going to be very entertaining and a much talked about encounter. The match won’t produce the tournament champion but it will bring a lot of energy and excitement to the first week. I expect it to be on court 2 at least, likely the last match.
Sonego upset 31st seed Navone in straights. Not much to say on this as this was always a fairly likely upset with Sonego being such a quality player and Navone not really suited to grass.
A few players narrowly made it into round 2- Shelton, Bublik, Draper, Tiafoe and Humbert. I called Draper and Humbert dark horses (Bublik, too) so I’m glad they survived. I’d say Shelton and Tiafoe look very vulnerable but maybe the early test will kick start them. It should also be said that Tiafoe and Humbert faced two emerging talents in Arnaldi and Shevchenko and did well to survive their tough openers with such fight. As for Bublik, he fought back from 0-2 sets down which means he can be bothered and is here to play, which is very good news.
The first round set up some very intriguing second round matches:
Monfils vs Wawrinka
Ruud vs Fognini
Sonego vs RBA
Bublik vs Cazaux
Humbert vs BVDZ
Tiafoe vs Coric
My personal favorite, Zhang vs Struff
Harris vs Shelton (I expect Harris to get the upset here)
Sinner vs Berretini
Such a wealth of attractive second round matches seem even more so with the draw being more open than it has for a long while. Although the favorites look very likely to make the last four, those being the top four seeds, there are a lot of dangerous players about and we could get a surprising second week.
Perhaps the biggest story of the first round is a match we didn’t see-Murray vs Machac. The two time champion had to withdraw with injury. The Scot tried his absolute best to end his career in the style he earned, a huge send off on center court. He’ll still get it, mind, and knowing him, we could very well see him try and play next year, and the one after that, and so on. That’ll bring a lot of pleasure to many fans and also to the tournament. Murray is Wimbledon royalty and just having him around adds some gravitas to an already very serious and entertaining business.
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