WIMBLEDON DAY 2 : BERRETTINI WITHDRAWS, FIELD CLEARS FOR NADAL
Several events marked this second day of Wimbledon. Matteo Berrettini’s withdrawal, Felix Auger-Aliassime’s defeat and a difficult victory for Nadal, who sees his way clear. On the women’s side, the main seeds did well, with Iga Swiatek still untouchable.
Like Cilic, Berrettini forced to retire from the tournament
It was the first bomb of the day. The Italian who was seeded #8 for the tournament announced this morning via his social networks that he had to withdraw from Wimbledon after a positive test to Covid-19. The one who had perfectly launched his season on grass by retaining his crown at the Queen’s ATP 500 sees his hopes of winning the graal on grass be shattered, and suffers the same fate as Marin Cilic. The Croatian had informed of his withdrawal yesterday after his test. Two serious candidates for the title who fade away, a real boon for the other players. And if the two men could have met Nadal in the 1/8th (Cilic) or in the semifinals (Berrettini), they have in fact already done it in training and Djokovic was also there. What next for Rafa and Novak? We’ll see in the next few days if the virus cuts off their hopes of a title too. One thing is for sure, yesteNadal defended his ground on the Central.
Difficult match and qualification for Nadal
For his first match, the Spanish player had to deal with the Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo, ranked 41st in the world, on the Centre Court. The bull from Manacor took the first two sets 6-4 and 6-3, before losing the third set 3-6. He then found himself in trouble in the next set with Cerundolo hurting from the baseline. The Spanish lost the set and the Argentinian even had several double break points to lead 4 games to 1, which he was unable to do. Cerundolo’s spirits dropped, Nadal regained his colors and the opportunity to take the bull in a final set took off : 6-4 Nadal for a final victory in four sets, 3 hours and 36 minutes.
Huge performance by Cressy to take out Auger-Aliassime
The Franco-American Maxime Cressy, great serving-volley adept, created the sensation of the day on the court. The 45th in the world eliminated the Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime in four sets (6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 7-6). Therefore, the potential quarter-final between Rafa and Felix will not happen. The No. 6 seed won the first set before losing the next three without making a break on Cressy. A big disappointment for the quarter-finalist last year, due to an excellent Maxime Cressy at serving and at the net. He will face his compatriot Jack Sock in the next round.
Rest of the main seeds : Taylor Fritz (seeded n°11) qualified without any difficulty against the Italian prodigy Lorenzo Musetti (6-4, 6-4, 6-3), Roberto Bautista-Agut (seeded n°17) against the Hungarian Attila Balazs (6-1, 6-0, 6-3) and Diego Schwartzman (seeded n°12) against the American Stefan Kozlov (6-3, 6-2, 6-2). Tsitsipas also qualified, but not without difficulties, against Ritschard (7-6, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4), Shapovalov against Rinderknech with a victory in five sets. Non-seeded Nick Kyrgios also won in five sets against local Paul Jubb.
Swiatek still in boss mode
French Open Winner and undefeated in 35 matches, the Polish Iga Swiatek surpassed Venus Williams’ record by bringing her total to 36 with her victory in the first round of Wimbledon. She got rid of the Croatian Jana Flett in 1 hour and 15 minutes of play (6-0, 6-3). Who can stop the boss?
Although the Polish world number one is on another planet and it seems difficult to compete with her, her rivals in the WTA race did their job during this first round, and without delay. After the easy qualification of Anett Kontaveit (seeded n°2) and Ons Jabeur (seeded n°3) in the first day, the Spanish Paula Badosa (4th) and the Greek Maria Sakkari (5th) were quick to win: 6-2, 6-1 in only 57 minutes for the first, and 6-1, 6-4 in 1h14 for the second. Jelena Ostapenko, Barbora Krejcikova and even Amanda Anisimova qualified in two sets, while Coco Gauff won in three sets.
Queen Serena defeated in first round by the French Harmony Tan
After 3 hours and 14 minutes of battle, Serena Williams ended up losing for her big comeback at Wimbledon. The 40 year old American was defeated in the first round by Harmony Tan in three sets (5-7, 6-1, 6-7). The 40 year old American was eliminated in the first round by Harmony Tan in three sets (5-7, 6-1, 6-7). Her power, technique and mental strength were not enough to beat the Frenchwoman ranked 115th in the world. Thanks, among other things, to her physical freshness, the latter offers herself a huge success and will face the Spanish 45th world, Sara Sorribes Tormo.
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