TENNIS: Wimbledon 2024 - First round
Jul. 3rd, 2024 08:23 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
feather_ghyllDay one - I got a glimpse of Berrettini playing in a match he would eventually win. The news of the day was Sabalenka pulling out because of her shoulder, which made the women’s side even more open.
I never managed to watch a full match on the first day, Alcaraz had just broken back to make things level when I joined his match against Estonian qualifier Marc Lajal (the one with the Troll hair), who was playing very well. It went to a tiebreak, and Alcaraz’s class showed in the big points.
But to his credit, Lajal kept playing well – much higher than his low 200s ranking. He must be about the same age as Alcaraz, but the latter IS no. 3 in the world, and again won the second set. By the third, Lajal was increasingly broken, and Alcaraz was playing delightful tennis. I see they’re trying to turn Nick ‘unsportsmanlike conduct’ Kyrigos into the new John McEnroe in the commentator’s booth, with Nick Lester and Tim Henman gently ribbing him. Competitive enough match, but Alcaraz will be happy with his performance
Another withdrawal meant that Raducanu, on Centre, would not be facing a seed, but a lucky loser who might just be in the top 100, but hadn’t played much on the WTA tour. But she started off well, redirecting and using drop shots, while Raducanu clearly had more power. Raducanu played an excellent tiebreak to win, and I caught a bit of the second, but had to wait for the highlights to see how Raducanu won.
I saw a lot of Jannik Sinner vs Yannick Hanfmann, who was trying to get more than five games off the world no. 1 who was a decade younger than him, and who’d beaten him easily in their only other meeting. It looked as if Sinner was his superior in all aspects, but Hanfmann also used drop shots to bring Sinner in, and the grass seemed slippier on court no. 1, where Sinner was the one with movement issues. Still, he won the first two sets easily enough, except for one fall that may have aggravated the hip injured earlier in the year, but in the third set, something weird happened, Hanfmann was breaking. Sinner’s first serve percentage had gone right down, Hanfmann was using his strength and the drop shots, and at one point it was 4-0 in his favour. Sinner recovered a bit, and in pulling off an excellent volley, Hanfmann hyper extended his knee, but was able to take a set off Sinner. They closed the roof, I watched a few games and then the coverage switched to some other game… but according to the highlights programme, he won in four, setting up a second-round match with Berrettini. What’s the Italian for tasty?
I got a glance of Osaka, who won against Diane Parry in three, and WHAT WAS THAT RUFFLE? That has to be the favourite for the worst outfit at Wimbledon so far.
Day two - the big news that Andy Murray would be pulling out of the singles, but planned to play doubles with brother Jamie, was not a total surprise.
I chose to watch Rybakina, who had a slow start against her opponent, but maintained her famous composure, and as her weight of shot and serve improved, and she showed off her hand skills at net, she won in two. (Defending champion and no. 6 seed Vondrousova lost to Bouzas Maneiro, which is a bit of a surprise. I didn’t think Vondrousova would be there at the end of the championship, but felt I had to give her the benefit of the doubt, because nobody expected her to win last year. Swiatek beat Kenin in straight sets.)
I then chose to watch Djokovic, and apart from the grey thingy around his knee and a little hesitation, there was no problem with his movement. His opponent, a qualifier, was playing well, but got demolished. Djokovic sweated like a pig (the roof on centre was closed) but played like a man who wants to get more Wimbledon titles than Federer and revenge on that Spanish whippersnapper. We shall see, of course, but that looked promising/ominous.
After that, Jack Draper, with left-hander John McEnroe joining Castle and Henman to see why there was all this talk about Draper. The opening game and a half were a bit deceptive. Draper then elected to hit an unnecessary tweener and qualifier Ymer took his chances and played well, while Draper went into himself. He lost the first set, and it must have been nerves as he’d been swopped in to play in the slot reserved for Murray’s match. But the second set was a bit more like it. Still, in the third, he squandered a lead by hitting a volley right back at Ymer. He could have won in four sets, but it ended up being in five. To me, there were too many signs of immaturity at this level – you’re going to bring your best to play Alcaraz, but you’re not going to be playing an Alcaraz every day. When Draper had the right level of intensity and shot selection, he was too much for Ymer, who isn’t even in the top 200. When he gave his opponent a chance, he took it. Depends what lessons Draper takes out of it. He faces Norrie next.
I never managed to watch a full match on the first day, Alcaraz had just broken back to make things level when I joined his match against Estonian qualifier Marc Lajal (the one with the Troll hair), who was playing very well. It went to a tiebreak, and Alcaraz’s class showed in the big points.
But to his credit, Lajal kept playing well – much higher than his low 200s ranking. He must be about the same age as Alcaraz, but the latter IS no. 3 in the world, and again won the second set. By the third, Lajal was increasingly broken, and Alcaraz was playing delightful tennis. I see they’re trying to turn Nick ‘unsportsmanlike conduct’ Kyrigos into the new John McEnroe in the commentator’s booth, with Nick Lester and Tim Henman gently ribbing him. Competitive enough match, but Alcaraz will be happy with his performance
Another withdrawal meant that Raducanu, on Centre, would not be facing a seed, but a lucky loser who might just be in the top 100, but hadn’t played much on the WTA tour. But she started off well, redirecting and using drop shots, while Raducanu clearly had more power. Raducanu played an excellent tiebreak to win, and I caught a bit of the second, but had to wait for the highlights to see how Raducanu won.
I saw a lot of Jannik Sinner vs Yannick Hanfmann, who was trying to get more than five games off the world no. 1 who was a decade younger than him, and who’d beaten him easily in their only other meeting. It looked as if Sinner was his superior in all aspects, but Hanfmann also used drop shots to bring Sinner in, and the grass seemed slippier on court no. 1, where Sinner was the one with movement issues. Still, he won the first two sets easily enough, except for one fall that may have aggravated the hip injured earlier in the year, but in the third set, something weird happened, Hanfmann was breaking. Sinner’s first serve percentage had gone right down, Hanfmann was using his strength and the drop shots, and at one point it was 4-0 in his favour. Sinner recovered a bit, and in pulling off an excellent volley, Hanfmann hyper extended his knee, but was able to take a set off Sinner. They closed the roof, I watched a few games and then the coverage switched to some other game… but according to the highlights programme, he won in four, setting up a second-round match with Berrettini. What’s the Italian for tasty?
I got a glance of Osaka, who won against Diane Parry in three, and WHAT WAS THAT RUFFLE? That has to be the favourite for the worst outfit at Wimbledon so far.
Day two - the big news that Andy Murray would be pulling out of the singles, but planned to play doubles with brother Jamie, was not a total surprise.
I chose to watch Rybakina, who had a slow start against her opponent, but maintained her famous composure, and as her weight of shot and serve improved, and she showed off her hand skills at net, she won in two. (Defending champion and no. 6 seed Vondrousova lost to Bouzas Maneiro, which is a bit of a surprise. I didn’t think Vondrousova would be there at the end of the championship, but felt I had to give her the benefit of the doubt, because nobody expected her to win last year. Swiatek beat Kenin in straight sets.)
I then chose to watch Djokovic, and apart from the grey thingy around his knee and a little hesitation, there was no problem with his movement. His opponent, a qualifier, was playing well, but got demolished. Djokovic sweated like a pig (the roof on centre was closed) but played like a man who wants to get more Wimbledon titles than Federer and revenge on that Spanish whippersnapper. We shall see, of course, but that looked promising/ominous.
After that, Jack Draper, with left-hander John McEnroe joining Castle and Henman to see why there was all this talk about Draper. The opening game and a half were a bit deceptive. Draper then elected to hit an unnecessary tweener and qualifier Ymer took his chances and played well, while Draper went into himself. He lost the first set, and it must have been nerves as he’d been swopped in to play in the slot reserved for Murray’s match. But the second set was a bit more like it. Still, in the third, he squandered a lead by hitting a volley right back at Ymer. He could have won in four sets, but it ended up being in five. To me, there were too many signs of immaturity at this level – you’re going to bring your best to play Alcaraz, but you’re not going to be playing an Alcaraz every day. When Draper had the right level of intensity and shot selection, he was too much for Ymer, who isn’t even in the top 200. When he gave his opponent a chance, he took it. Depends what lessons Draper takes out of it. He faces Norrie next.
