Wimbledon, Day 1
Serena Williams avenged her early round upset at the French Open last year by claiming the title this year, eleven years after her first title victory there. Nadal couldn't even match his second round loss here last year to Lukas Rosol; he fell to Steve Darcis of Belgium on Monday, who is ranked 135th in the world, in his first round match on Centre Court.
Rafa warded off break points in his first two service games, already seeming shaky with some slips in the grass. Darcis would be quick and merciless in exploiting what was obviously his best chance to beat a top ten player for the very first time.
Commentators assumed that Nadal was merely finding his range during the first few games, wherein he was misjudging and mistiming shots, and eventually found himself triple break point down at 2-2. Tenacious net play and smart serving allowed him to save all three and then hold for a 3-2 lead.
But surprises were more than in store as Darcis broke Nadal in the eleventh game to lead 6-5 in the first set.
Counter-puncher Rafa would never concede defeat without a fight and broke back to force a tiebreak (It's strange, watching a twelve-time Grand Slam champion struggle to play catch-up), but Darcis was rolling with the momentum and quickly took the first set after one hour of play.
Set two was where the source of the problem became abundantly clear. The delicate knee, which held strong to give Rafa a record eighth French Open trophy just one week before, was finally showing signs of weariness and weakness after almost five months into the Spaniard's comeback tour.
Nadal's massive upper body strength facilitated decent serves and service holds for the first ten games of this set. He did not get a decent look at a break point on Steve Darcis's serve until the eleventh game, at which point Nadal was visibly uncomfortable - moving tentatively, returning awfully and barely allowing his body weight to fall on the left leg. Yet still, he broke for a 6-5 lead.
Serving for the set, I doubt anyone in the crowd anticipated the stroke of misfortune and immovability that brought him to 0-30 down in a matter of seconds, with the net cord and his knee both conspiring against him. Darcis's relentless play would then produce a break back to play out the second set in another tiebreaker.
In no time at all, Darcis had earned the second set 7-6 (10-8), dismissing Nadal's set points with ease.
Now chipping in every return of serve short and without much pace, chasing nothing, limping around, trying to run around every backhand (and failing miserably), missing practically all his first serves and struggling just to hold serve, Nadal found himself in heaps of trouble and in a more painful predicament than last year when the knee pain first arose: by favoring the right knee so greatly, he was essentially putting it under the same pressure that caused the left knee to fail.
But Darcis would not be distracted and maintained his assault on the injured Mallorcan, quickly making his way to 5-4 after two hours and fifty-three minutes. With the chance to serve it out, and Rafa looking as despondent and brave-faced as ever, the twenty-nine-year-old from Belgium whipped an ace down the tee, to which Nadal barely responded, and pulled off one of the greatest upsets in Wimbledon history by beating a former champion in the first round, and certainly the greatest match win of his life.
Did Rafa predict that playing back-to-back majors with no warm-up tournaments and only a week of recovery in between would place far too much strain in transitioning his body? He has never lost in the first round of his previous 34 major campaigns but was keen in pre-match interviews not to admit whether he felt he could win the title and, although 1987 Wimbledon champion Pat Cash expressed his confidence in Nadal's ability to pull through and win the title, someone in Rafa's camp must have known what an ask this was.
This takes nothing away from Steve Darcis, who played an amazing match chock-full of hot shots and such daring improvisation as is only really expected of players 125 spots or more above his ranking. The 5'10" right-hander is due to play Lukasz Kubot of Poland on Wednesday.
The lowest ranked player to ever win at the All England Club was Goran Ivanisevic of Croatia, who was ranked 125 at the time, BUT Australian Mark Edmondson who took his homeland title in 1976 when he was ranked 212th in the world, so it isn't entirely impossible for Darcis to defy the odds and win the championship.
However, with the top four players still looming in the imminent later rounds, I predict the Belgian isn't going to strike lightning twice, thrice or four more times.
For match highlights, click here.
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| Steve Darcis (L) d. Rafael Nadal (R) in Round 1 at Wimbledon |
Federer Dismisses Hanescu
Seven-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer got off to a great start earlier on Monday with a 3-0 lead over Romanian Victor Hanescu. Hanescu was only able to hold serve in the fourth game but the score would soon be 5-2 and Roger would serve it out 6-3 after a must-hold from the Romanian.
Six minutes into the second set, Fed was again up 2-0, breaking Hanescu in the opening service game. Hanescu was trying to be aggressive but only came up with a pile of errors and handed the set to the Swiss former No. 1, 6-2.
By the third set, Roger was almost toying with Victor, turning virtually every shot into a winner. Down 0-4, Hanescu had reached the point where the crowd would cheer wildly on the rare occasion that he did win a point. On Hanescu's serve, Fed hit a lob good enough to foil the 6'6" frame of the Romanian to go up 5-0 and serve out the match.
After just one hour and nine minutes on centre court, Roger Federer had gotten the best of Victor Hanescu 6-3, 6-2, 6-0.
For match highlights, click here.
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| Victor Hanescu of Romania |
Sharapova Must Fight to Best Mladenovic
Maria Sharapova did not breeze through her opening match on Court 1 this Monday. Serbia-born French player Kristina Mladenovic (ranked 37th) stayed toe to toe with the 2004 Wimbledon champion throughout most of the first set.
Suffering a lapse in concentration over a scuff with the umpire about a serving rule during a point replay (about which she was sorely mistaken), Sharapova almost lost the first set but regrouped with excellent serving to take it 7-6 (7-5) in a tough tiebreak.
Finally remembering her ranking, Mladenovic began serving poorly in the second set and allowed MaSha too much leeway with a 4-1 lead over her.
Much more resolute than in her earlier years, Sharapova did not falter in grabbing the match with a 6-3 second set win.
For match highlights, click here.
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| Maria Sharapova (R) d. Kristina Mladenovic (L) in Round 1 at Wimbledon |
Murray and Azarenka Also Through to 2R
Murray had little trouble displacing Benjamin Becker of Germany with a 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 win on the grass courts at Wimbledon. British #1 Murray surrendered an early lead in the first and was late on seizing a break point, but it came with a set point then and there was nothing more Becker could do.
Vika battled through knee pain after an awkward slide in the grass to win her match against
Maria João Koehler of Portual 6-1, 6-2, after eliminating break point in the last service game.
Continue staying with us for all the latest updates at the All-England Club.
Breathe tennis!!
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