Wimbledon Day 2

Hey Y'all. Galileo here.

We are into Day Two of Wimbledon and there weren't too many upsets, and we even had a classic or two. I managed to follow closely the Tomic/Querrey match and it was a very high quality affair with both men hitting great shots, but what soon became clear is that Tomic has a game with many different dimensions but sometimes, you know, those dimensions get in the way of each other or malfunction.

The men's doubles started and this is the only place the men play five sets. Gonzalez/Lipsky, the tenth seeds, won in straights, Cermak and Mertinak beat Garcia-Lopez/Andujar in five whilst Malisse and Skupski won in four. They lost just one more game after splitting the opening two sets in tiebreakers. Third seeds Peya/Soares progressed in four over Butorac and Ram.

Djokovic wasn't pushed to four but it was still a tricky three setter. He really looked confident and there were some draw-dropping rallies, too. Also, Ferrer nearly went down two sets to one but recovered to win 6-1, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2. He will lose a set here or there, I think, but he should be good to reach his seeding- a semi-final spot. We shall see.


STRAWBERRIES AND CREAM MATCH: Tomic d. Querrey
...Admittedly this was on Court 3 but it was still an absolute classic. The typical American style -big serve, big forehand- against something utterly unique. I don't know how I would describe Tomic and his game, but he has a funky style and the clash of these two styles was intriguing. Tomic seems to play with a wand, with wizardry whilst Querrey likes to smash his opponents, the sledgehammer against the feathery approach, and it was a fantastic five setter. It made me want to go and find a tennis court, any tennis court, and try some of the shots on display. Could Tomic put together a run here? Unlikely, but his next match against Blake will also be brilliant and well worth a watch. The two have only met once.
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ROSOL MOMENT: Feliciano Lopez, ESP
...Everything about Lopez is beautiful- his looks -though I'm no expert-, his serve, his forehand and even slice backhand. The Lopez/Federer match at the Open back in 2007 remains one of my all time favourites, up there with Gasquet/Roddick at Wimbledon and Gonzalez at the 2007 Australian. There are so many more, but I digress. This was only an upset on paper and what we all suspected would happen happened. Lopez was all class in his 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 win and that 13-11 breaker is one I will remember for a while. It would be nice if there was an award for the player who played the nicest tennis, most pleasing to the eye. I'd nominate Lopez, Dimitrov, Gasquet and many others. I guess there’s just something about the one-hander and the fact I can't hit one -two or one handed- just adds to the allure.
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ISNER-MAHUT WANNABE'S: Wayne Odesnik/Jimmy Wang, USA/TPE
...First of all let me just say I love that this guy is called Jimmy Wang. Anyway, after just shy of 4 hours play he triumphed over American Odesnik 7-6, 4-6, 6-2, 3-6, 7-5. Both hit more errors than winners and the aces were few and far between, too. Not quite Ishut, but not bad time-wise. In fact, it didn't match up to that epic 2008 Fedal final which is my all time favourite match. I think when I have the time I might actually just write an update where I have a giant tangent section- although that might lead to some very strange places.
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BLINK AND YOU MISS IT: James Blake/Thiemo De Bakker, USA/NED
...When Isner finally beat Mahut, he had to play De Bakker in the next round, in fact the next day. He lost in straight sets and hit no aces. Anyway, James Blake was at his brilliant best here, winning 6-1,6-3,6-2 in an hour and 11 minutes. He hit 31 winners and 7 aces with just the one double and only seven errors. His match against Tomic will be a must see.
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ELVIS AWARD: Ivan Dodig, CRO
...This was the weirdest end to a match I have seen in such a long time. Kohl went up 6-4, 7-6 before Dodig took the next two 7-6, 6-3. Then at 2-1, Kohl just quit apparently because of flu. It was very strange. Had Kohl closed it out in straight sets he could have remained a very dangerous floater up there in the top half. Dodig moves through to take on Kudla, then Raonic or Sijsling, but then he runs into Ferrer. He might make the fourth round but the fourth round of a slam is a huge achievement.
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HOME GROWN HEREO: Ken Skupski, GBR
...I had not realised how tricky this section would be. I will be going very obscure in this section over the next few days. It will get better at the US, hopefully. Skupski and Malisse beat Donskoy/Kuznetsov in four sets including a bagel and baguette, too. The British crowd were fully behind them as they moved through to the second round of the men's doubles.
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I shall now quickly preview some of Day 3's action....


=Centre Court=
Tsonga [6] d. Gulbis

This will be an amazing match. Gulbis is going to push Tsonga. I think this may go four.

Federer [3] d. Stakhovsky

Free tennis lesson, Centre Court.

=Court One=
Verdasco d. Benny

An epic five setter or a dud. Could be either.

Murray [2] d. Lu

Perhaps four if Lu plays his best but, really, only a Murray win is going to happen here.

=Upset Potential=
Mahut v. [32] Robredo

Recent titlist Mahut should be good enough to beat the dirtballer to go through.

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