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Only 14 matches were completed on the women’s side Monday due to the rains at Wimbledon, where a handful of lower seeds caught flights back home.
ADHEREL
American teen Christina McHale, the youngest player in the WTA Top 100 at the age of 19, ousted No. 28 seed Ekaterina Makarova 8-6 in the third set.
Other upset winners were Italian Sara Errani over No. 17 Kaia Kanepi in straights, and Russian Ksenia Pervak toppling No. 22 Shahar Peer in three.
Last year’s Wimbledon runner-up and No. 2 seed Vera Zvonareva recovered to defeat American Alison Riske 6-0, 3-6, 6-3; No. 6 Francesca Schiavone labored past Jelena Dokic 6-4, 1-6, 6-3; and No. 12 Svetlana Kuznetsova outlasted China’s Zhang Shuai 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
“I was not surprised how tough it was today,” Schiavone said. “[Dokic} can come back to the top. But tennis is a very special sport. You have to play every tournament at a high level for years and years. She might need more time.”
Fan favorite and multi-Wimbledon winner No. 23 seed Venus Williams was a straight-set winner over Uzbekistan’s Akgul Amanmuradova.
“It was a jumper,” Venus said in response to inquiries about her latest Wimbledon outfit design. “Jumpers are very now, as is lace. The shoulders have a lot of draping, which is also in the moment. It’s just a trendy dress. It’s fun. I’m really into zippers, so it has a focal point of a zipper in the front. And the back is a cut-out, or a peek-a-boo. It’s just fun. Right now I’m really trending towards simplicity. I’m not sure why. It’s just how I feel right now. Everything is getting more simple.”
Simply…awful.
Matches to look for on Tuesday at the All England Club include (7) Serena Williams vs. Aravane Rezai, (1) Caroline Wozniacki vs. Arantxa Parra Santonja, (3) Na Li vs. Russian Alla Kudryavtseva, (15) Jelena Jankovic vs. crafty Spaniard Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, (18) Ana Ivanovic vs. Melanie “C’mon!” Oudin, (8) Petra Kvitova vs. American qualifier Alexa Glatch, (10) Sam Stosur vs. Melinda “The Fifth Element” Czink, Anabel “Funky Cold” Medina Garrigues vs. (16) Julia “Gorgeous” Goerges, and (24) Dominika Cibulkova vs. Mirjana Lucic.
One Andy Denied, One Andy Advances Monday at Wimbledon
American Andy Roddick was denied his match due to the rains, but otherwise matches and seeds advancing went generally as scheduled on Monday, the first day of The Championships at Wimbledon. And we are referred to it as such because it is so amusing for a tournament to refer to itself as “The Championships.” Have another Pimms Wimbledon and get over yourself.
Top 10 seeds Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, Tomas Berdych and Gael Monfils advanced, with only Murray dropping a set to Spaniard Daniel Gimeno-Travers.
“I think he started playing very well, I think aggressive, having good returns,” Nadal said of beating American “Iron” Mike Russell in straight sets. “I started, in my opinion, trying to play too fast in the beginning probably. I had few mistakes with the backhand, with the forehand. So he had the break. But after that I started to change a little bit more the rhythm with the slice, trying to play a little bit longer points, try to hit the forehand when I had the chance. I think I did well after that first moment of the first set. My level in general I think was very positive, no?”
Murray likewise had to recover from an early hole.
“I changed the way I was playing,” said Murray, who lost the first set. “I changed the way I was returning, especially. You know, the court was, you know, I think normally at the start of the tournament it’s quite slow, you know, and I was playing, just playing a lot of long rallies with him. I was playing very aggressive on his first serve, off his first serve; and on his second serve I was really tentative. So I was missing returns off the first serve, and, you know, really just giving him a chance to dictate a lot of the points. Once I started, I blocked a lot of first serve returns, made the balls sort of shoot through the court a little bit more, and he made some more mistakes. But the first set, yeah, he was hitting his forehand really well, and when I had chances he was hitting the spots with his serve, too. He was serving well.”
You know? There you have it.
No. 30 Thomasz Bellucci was the lone upset victim on the day, losing to German Rainer Schuettler in straight sets.
Other seeded winners Monday were No. 10 Mardy Fish, No. 14 Stan Wawrinka, No. 17 Richard Gasquet, and No. 31 Milos Raonic.
“I’m ranked the No. 1 American,” said Fish about the pressure entering the event. “So, yeah, with it comes, you know, a little bit more pressure. And I feel it for sure. But, you know, it’s where you want to be. So it’s a good thing.”
Matches to watch for Tuesday are John Isner vs. Nicolas Mahut, (3) Roger Federer vs. Mikhail Kukushkin, (2) Novak Djokovic vs. Jeremy Chardy, (8) Andy Roddick vs. Andreas Beck, Radek “The Worm” Stepanek vs. Fernando “Hot Sauce” Verdasco, Ivan Ljubicic vs. (27) Marin Cilic (to finish), (22) Alexandr Dolgopolov vs. Fernando “Gonzo” Gonzalez, Brazilian Ricardo Mello “Yello” vs. Frank “You Can” Dancevic, Florent Serra vs. Andreas “Don’t be a” Haider-Maurer, “Dr.” Ivo Karlovic vs. (23) Janko Tipsarevic, Kei “Special K” Nishikori vs. former champ Lleyton Hewitt, another Aussie Bernard Tomic vs. (29) Nikolay Davydenko, Japan’s Go “Get me a” Soeda vs. (12) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and (32) Marcos Baghdatis vs. James Blake.
TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Andy Murray is undefeated under the $100 million dollar center court roof. He’s 2-0…A whopping 95 singles matches are scheduled to be contested on Tuesday…Gilles Muller, Mardy Fish and Milos Raonic leads the ace count at 37, 26 and 25 respectively…Rafael Nadal still has never lost a first round at a Grand Slam. Nadal also has won 15 straight matches at Wimbledon. Pretty good for a clay specialist, no?…Why do Russians (Zvonareva, Makarova) always seem to lose/choke/struggle against young American girls?…Did you know John Isner is playing Nicolas Mahut again? How could you not fucking know? Is it really that “awesome” that they are playing again? We get that it was a special match, but I think privately most people are sick of the talk and the build. Let’s face it, it’s horrible tennis…A Williams sister has won 9 of the last 11 Wimbledon titles. Federer and Nadal have only won 8 (the girls are older obviously)…How loaded is the schedule tomorrow? Maria Sharapova doesn’t even have a court assignment yet… After seeing Venus Williams’ predominantly bad dress, what will Serena be wearing?…Reminder, Caroline Wozniacki is No. 1 and she’ll stay that way at least until August…Ivo Karlovic’s mother is an agronomist…World No. 1 Rafael Nadal on the time between his loss at Queen’s and the start of Wimbledon: “I’ve played fantastic rounds of golf. Best two weeks of my life in Majorca. I spent the weekend with friends, family, relaxing a little bit. I didn’t spend a weekend at home since the Davis Cup against Belgium in February, so I needed it.”…Note to ESPN’s Hannah Storm — Christine McHale is a teen but still understands English, you don’t have to talk to her like she is a five-year-old…Jelena Dokic has filled out at 28 years old…ESPN commentator Chris Evert went through a painful public break-up with pro golfer Greg Norman, and in 2012 will again have her private life in the media when former love Jimmy Connors’ memoir is released, promising inside info on their relationship, among other topics…Flirty neighbors Novak Djokovic and Caroline Wozniacki had some fun together before Wimbledon started. The Woz snuck into a Djokovic pre-tournament press conference and asked, “You had this losing streak of one, so what are you going to do to change that?” Djokovic replied, “I will try to look up to some women players who have been so consistent with their wins. For example, like, Caroline Wozniacki. I don’t know if you’ve heard about her. She’s been winning so much. She’s become a role model for all of us ATP players.” The Woz playing reporter identified herself from the “Monaco newspaper on Avenue Princess Grace” where the two live near each other. Woz asked, “So who is your favorite women’s tennis player?” Djokovic replied, “We’ll have to keep that a secret, but…I’ve said her name. She’s actually my neighbor as well. She lives on the street where you come from. From time to time, we have coffee there on the beach, just relax, have lunch and have a jog.” Woz said, “I’m sure she must be a really, really nice girl,” and Djokovic replied, “She is a really, really nice girl. She’s a great entertainer. No. 1. You never heard about her?”…Tennis-X female staffer wandering by the television yesterday: “Oh my god, what is Venus wearing? That is truly ugly! It’s unflattering in so many different ways. God that’s hideous. It’s like she’s wearing an artfully-shredded men’s button down shirt, backwards.”…American Ryan Harrison loses in the final round of the Wimbledon qualifying as he did at the French, smashing his racquet in a fit and taking a chunk out of the grasscourt. But like at Roland Garros, he gets into the main draw as a lucky loser.
Centre Court 13:00 Start Time
Aravane Rezai (FRA) v. Serena Williams (USA)[7]
Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ) v. Roger Federer (SUI)[3]
Jeremy Chardy (FRA) v. Novak Djokovic (SRB)[2]
No. 1 Court 13:00 Start Time
Andreas Beck (GER) v. Andy Roddick (USA)[8]
Caroline Wozniacki (DEN)[1] v. Arantxa Parra Santonja (ESP)
Robin Soderling (SWE)[5] v. Philipp Petzschner (GER)
No. 2 Court 12:00 Start Time
Radek Stepanek (CZE) v. Fernando Verdasco (ESP)[21]
Victoria Azarenka (SVK) v. Magdalena Rybarikova (BLR)[4] To Finish 6-4 3-2
James Ward (GBR) v. Michael Llodra (FRA)[19]
Na Li (CHN)[3] v. Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS)
No. 3 Court 12:00 Start Time
Jelena Jankovic (SRB)[15] v. Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (ESP)
Ivan Ljubicic (CRO) v. Marin Cilic (CRO)[27] To Finish 7-6(2) 3-6 2-1
David Ferrer (ESP)[7] v. Benoit Paire (FRA)
John Isner (USA) v. Nicolas Mahut (FRA)
Mathilde Johansson (FRA) v. Heather Watson (GBR)
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