Despite the British weather being the British weather, Wimbledon is firmly underway. The early rounds have seen impressive displays by some, and dismal displays by others. Seeds have fallen and underdogs have risen. This is your run down of the major events of Wimbledon so far.
It’s finally here.
Wimbledon.
The pinnacle of the tennis season has finally graced our screens, and for those lucky enough, their eyes have been treated to some of the spectacles that have been on offer on the green grass of Wimbledon.
So far this year, weather aside, the Championship has not disappointed. Several top seeds from both the gentlemen’s and ladies’ draws have fallen, with many also rising to the occasion.
This is your Wimbledon run down…
Djokovic and Alcaraz continue to impress
As many would have predicted, Novak Djokovic’s attempt to win his eighth Wimbledon title has suffered little setback in his first two rounds. Pedro Cachin was his first victim, falling in straight sets, Djokovic then had to compete with Jordan Thompson.
The Australian has had a very decent grass court campaign this year and played the game of his life against Djokovic, hitting 21 aces, but ultimately fell in straight sets 6-3, 7-6, 7-5. The fact that Djokovic was victorious in straight sets, despite how well Thompson played, lays down a dangerous marker for the rest of the competition.
He plays an old foe in the shape of Stanislas Wawrinka in the third round. The pair share a record of 4-4 against each other in Slams. Can the 38-year-old Wawrinka pull off one more magical display against Djokovic?
Carlos Alcaraz continued his fine form on grass with a mightily impressive straight sets victory over Jeremy Chardy. It seems that Alcaraz’s movement and all-round shot-making ability has leant itself nicely to grass.
The world #1 plays Alexandre Muller later today as he hopes to continue on this impressive run.
The big three march on
Tennis seems to have found its new big three.
Iga Swiatek, Elena Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka have all made it through to the second round (Swiatek and Rybakina made the third round, as of yesterday).
All three have looked in fantastic form this year, with Swiatek especially racking up some impressive performances, especially in the first round against a very tricky opponent, the world #34 Lin Zu. Swiatek has only dropped six games in the championships so far and will be hoping she can carry her impressive form all the way to the finals.
After a shaky start against Shelby Rogers, Rybakina’s title defence seems to be back on track following a very impressive victory over Alize Cornet. Rybakina will now face Britain’s very impressive Katie Boulter, who herself has looked fantastic so far this year.
It promises to be a Wimbledon classic.
On her return to Wimbledon, Aryna Sabalenka might be slightly annoyed that she has only managed to play one match so far. The world #2 will play her second-round match against Varvara Gracheva later today, as she hopes to continue her push towards Wimbledon glory.
The fallen seeds
As is always the case with Wimbledon, early rounds have seen big names fall and underdogs rise; this year has been no exception.
Some of the ‘upsets’ it is fair to say were more predictable than others, Casper Ruud is well renowned for his poor performances on grass and fell in five sets to British star Liam Brodie. Brodie will play Dennis Shapovalov in round three, in a match he will be quietly confident of winning.
Felix Auger-Aliassime’s dreadful 2023 continued, the world #12 was dumped out in the first round by Michael Mmoh.
There were also surprise defeats for Maria Sakkari, who continues to struggle at Grand Slams, Jelena Ostapenko and French Open finalist Karolina Muchova.
But perhaps the biggest shocks of the early rounds were two American players, both tipped to have a very good Wimbledon.
After narrowly surviving a first-round scare, Taylor Fritz looked set to overcome his first round jitters when he lead Mikael Ymer by two sets to love. But Ymer enacted an incredible comeback to win in five sets, dumping out last year’s quarter-finalist.
Another shock came the round before, when Coco Gauff fell at the hands of fellow American Sofia Kenin. Kenin herself is a former Australian Open champion, and it was a tough draw for Gauff. But the American teenager’s forehand needs serious work. A number of missed chances, as well as 18 unforced errors leaked from her forehand, it needs fixing if Gauff is to win a slam.
The players to watch out for
One of the biggest talking points surrounding Wimbledon, before the tournament even started, was the ability of 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva. Andreeva came through qualifying and racked up big wins against Xiyu Wang and #10 seed Barbora Krejcikova in her first two rounds. She now faces another tough match against Anastasia Potapova, it remains to be seen just how bright this new star can shine.
There have been impressive displays from a number of players in the first few rounds, but amongst the best I’ve seen have been by Francis Tiafoe, Jannik Sinner and Hubert Hurkacz. Tiafoe has served brilliantly and has a potential classic lined up with Grigor Dimitrov in round three, while Sinner faces Quentin Halys and Hurkacz has a fantastic match lined up with Lorenzo Musetti.
All have shown an exceptional range of hitting and have experience of going deep into Slams in the past, they will pose a huge problem for anyone they come up against.
Of course, the main name anyone is talking about at Wimbledon is Andy Murray. After a fantastic display in his first round against fellow Brit Ryan Peniston, Murray found himself with a tough draw against Stefanos Tsitsipas.
After dropping the first set on a narrow tie-break, Murray came roaring back to claim the next two sets, putting him one away from a fantastic victory. Unfortunately, the match ran out of time and a conclusion was not reached. The match will continue today, with us all hoping that Murray can get the job done and continue his fairy-tale run to Wimbledon glory.
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