Wimbledon Week 1 Review

Hey Y'all. Galileo here.

Never before have there been so many withdrawals in one day at slam level. It was ridiculous. Watching it, I was amazed at just how many injuries there were and to good players, as well. Essentially, it left gaping big holes in the draw which means surprise quarterfinalists, semifinalists and perhaps even a surprise finalist. Janowicz/Djokovic anyone?

On Wednesday, the sixteenth seeds Huey/Inglot came through in straight sets whilst the eighth seeded team Bhupati/Knowle came through in four after dropping the opening set. In a very tight four setter, the second seeds Granollers/Lopez fell and they would prove to be the only upset with seeds 7, 9 and 14 also going through. Tsonga retired in the singles, likewise for Cilic and Isner. Seeds 6, 10 and 18 all going out then, which would have serious repercussions for those guys in the rankings. Of course, the biggest upset of them all, and perhaps the greatest upset of all time, happened on Wednesday. But more on that later.

Thursday was quieter. Less happened in the singles and doubles and there were fewer retirements. The French eleventh seeds came through in five, whilst the French thirteenth seeds went through courtesy of another retirement. Quereshi and Rojer, seeded fifth, and Matowski/Kubot, seeded 15th, both came through in straight sets. Raonic lost to Sijsling in straight sets but that would prove to be the only upset of the day.

On Friday, the twelth seeds Melo/Dodig won comfortably whilst the fourth seeds Stepanek/Paes won in four, despite the fact Stepsy retired from the singles. Three times runner up -the last three years, to be precise- Lindstedt partnered with Nestor this year, not Tecau, and and they came through in three straight sets. The Bryans were imperious and cruised through their match.

Janowicz beat Almagro in three close sets and he could be a dark horse to go all the way. Murray beat 32nd seeded Robredo and Zemlja finished off Dimi 11-9 in the fifth set. No other seeds fell on that day but on Saturday there would surely be some upsets.

Not in the doubles, with seeds 4 going through easily. Seeds five needed to come back from two sets to none down, which they did and finally won 8-6 in the fifth. The fifteenth seeds also came back from two sets down to win in five. The seventh seeds -Mirnyi/Tecau- went through in four but the tenth seeds lost in five sets to Levine/Pospisil of Canada. The eighth seeds and sixteenth seeds won in four, but the third seeds of Peya/Soares had to win 10-8 in a fifth set to prevail over Hanley and Smith of Australia. The Bryans were magnificent and so were ninth seeds Fleming/Marray of Britain. Seeds 11 and 14 needed fifth sets to advance with the 11th seeds even needing and 8-6 final set.

Tomic beat the ninth seeded Gasquet in four very entertaining sets 7-6, 5-7, 7-5 and 7-6. Djokovic smashed 28th seeded Chardy, whilst Berydch edged past Anderson in four. Ferrer was two sets to one down against Dolgo but came back to win 6-7,7-6,2-6,6-1,6-2. Haas beat Lopez in four sets despite losing the first. Ferver beat Gulbis 6-2, 6-4 and 6-4 and De Schepper 'upset' Monaco in three straight sets. Delpo beat Zemlja in three straight sets, including a bagel. Seppi came back from two sets to one down to beat Nishikori in five sets.

Righteo, time for some awards.


STRAWBERRIES AND CREAM MATCH: Tomic d. Gasquet, Ferrer d. Dolgopolov, Gulbis d. Tsonga
...So much was made of the Gulbis/Tsonga match. It had such a big billing, but then Tsonga got injured and eventually pulled the plug. All in all, a bit of a dud. Ferrer has not looked great this championship but if anyone can grind out wins, it is Ferrer. He responded magnificently by going two sets to one down against Dolgo by taking the next two for the loss of just three games. With a lot of funky spins and bizarre shot selections, Dolgopolov had Ferrer confused. Plus the blister the Spaniard has wasn't helping things. In the end, though, Ferrer figured it out and then took control. Dolgo hit less errors and had more winners and more aces than his opponent but still lost. Dolgopolov's biggest strength and indeed his biggest weakness, was his unpredictability. Tomic also played an unorthodox style of play against Gasquet, but with better results. He hit 60 winners and 19 aces to beat the ninth seed in three hours.
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ROSOL MOMENT: Igor Stakhovsky, UKR
...He impaled Roger upon his own sword. He served-volleyed the GOAT into submission. He was aggressive and consistently moved forward, and he made Roger look weak. He made Roger look beatable. Fed has been in these situations before and he has always found a way. Apparently, however, not this time. This time, Fed could do nothing, but his opponent could do nothing in the next round as he lost to Melzer.
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ISNER-MAHUT WANNABE'S: Zemlja d. Dimitrov, SLO/BUL
...In four hours and four minutes, over the course of two days, Zemlja triumphed over the 26th seed 5-6, 7-6, 6-3, 6-4, 11-9. I myself saw the last ten minutes of this match live and it was very exciting. The crowd was really with the young star, and a certain Maria Sharapova was also watching. In fact, one spectator called 'give us a wave Maria'. Anyway, with a combined 41 aces and 114 winners, this was a very exciting match indeed. Zemlja of course lost in his next match, but this was still a very intense match with lots of drama and a match where the loser won 8 more points.
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BLINK AND YOU MISS IT: Mannarino/ d. Isner, FRA/USA
...With Isner leading 6 points to 4, he quit because he had done something to his knee. It was a freak accident that occurred on Black Wednesday. He had hit a winner and an ace with no errors. Isner has now played in one of the shortest and longest matches in Wimby history. I don't think much more can be said about this match.
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ELVIS AWARD: Radek Stepanek, CZE
...This award goes to Stepsy for retiring from the singles and then playing the doubles event with his partner. He is either very brave, doesn't feel pain or he doesn't want to let his partner down.
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HOME GROWN HERO: Inglot, GBR
...He and his partner Inglot beat Begeman/Emmrich of Germany 6-3, 6-7, 7-5, 7-6. They are the sixteenth seeds and they are through to the third round. They play the in-form Bryans next and that, I fear, will not go so well.
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