Roger Federer’s bid for a record 15th Grand Slam title got underway in familiar fashion as the five-times champion settled into Wimbledon’s new-look centre court with a straight sets demolition of Taiwan’s Lu Yen-Hsun.
Federer, a favourite in the absence of injured champion Rafael Nadal, recovered from going a break down early in the first set to win 7-5, 6-3, 6-2 and set up a second round meeting with Spain’s Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, who had a similarly straightforward win over Argentina’s Agustin Calleri. Fine, dry conditions ensured there was no need of the new retractable roof that has been installed above Wimbledon’s most famous court as part of an 80-million-pound upgrade.
Federer also went largely untested once he had recovered from netting a straightforward backhand to gift his opponent a break in the fifth game of the match. The Swiss broke back immediately and, after clinching the first set with a 12th-game break, improved steadily as the match wore on.
World No. 1 Nadal, who beat Federer in a classic final last year, has opted not to defend his after failing to fully recover from knee tendinitis in time. James Blake, who had arrived here with high hopes after finishing as runner-up to Andy Murray at Queen’s, became the first major casualty in the men’s draw when he suffered a surprise straight sets defeat at the hands of Andreas Seppi.
The Italian beat the 17th seed 7-5, 6-4, 7-6 (7/5) to advance to the second round and leave the American scratching his head over his failure to make an impact here. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the French ninth seed who could present Federer’s first real threat if both men advance to the last eight, had to battle hard to overcome Kazakhstan’s Andrey Golubev 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/5).
Maria Sharapova was the first of the leading women to take to the All England club’s lawns and the 2004 champion quickly found herself in trouble, trailing 1-4 and 3-5 in the first set to Ukrainian qualifier Viktoriya Kutuzova. The Russian recovered however to win 7-5, 6-4 and set up a second round meeting with Argentina’s Gisela Dulko, one of the few women who can compete with her in the glamour stakes.
Serena Williams, who could face Sharapova at the quarterfinal stage, swept Portugal Neuza Silva aside 6-1, 7-5 and had an ominous warning for her rivals. “I thought I could have played a ton better, especially on key points,” said the American.
There was disappointment in store for the home supporters when 15-year-old Laura Robson, last year’s junior champion, lost in three sets to former world No.5 Daniela Hantuchova 3-6, 6-4, 6-2.
ANDY MURRAY’S GRANNY A JINX
WHILE ANDY Murray is hoping to bring home the Wimbledon trophy, her mother has said that she won’t be taking his granny along to watch him play because she’s a jinx. Murray’s mum Judy thinks that Andy, 22, may lose his chances of winning if her mother, Shirley Erskine, 73, cheers from the sidelines.
This is because Murray lost the last three times his grandmother was watching him play. The last occasion was when Judy took Shirley to see Andy play Juan Martin Del Potro at the Madrid masters in May.“It was Andy’s 22nd birthday and he was due to play Del Potro at 10pm,” the Daily Express quoted Judy as saying.
“I made a booking and took granny with me.This was the third successive year I’ve taken my mum for Andy’s birthday and he has lost each time,” she said.
She added:“She is clearly a jinx and I’m not taking her again.” But Shirley is adamant to go there in person rather than watching at home in Scotland.
“I’m trying to convince the family I’m not a jinx because I want to be down there cheering Andy on,” she declared.
BETTING SHOPS GO INTO OVERDRIVE
THE PROSPECT of a British man winning Wimbledon for the first time since Fred Perry in 1936 is making betting shops busy. Andy Murray of Scotland, second choice for the men’s title after Roger Federer, is driving unprecedented wagering this year. Not even Englishman Tim Henman, a four-time semifinalist, stirred such heavy betting. William Hill, a prominent British bookmaker, has Murray at 15-8 odds to win the title, with Federer at 8-11.
“We expect ‘Murraymania’ to put ‘Henmania’ in the shade, and for the first time we expect turnover to top 100 million pounds (about $165 million),” said Graham Sharpe, a spokesman for William Hill. Other men’s odds at are: Novak Djokovic 10-1,Andy Roddick 14-1, Juan Martin del Potro and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 18-1.
Noise pollution at Wimbledon
Martina Navratilova thinks it is cheating, Serena Williams does not even know she is doing it and now there is a Portuguese teenager who appears to cry out in agony when she hits the ball.
Grunting is back on the tennis agenda at the world’s most famous tournament, which began on Monday, and the big noise at Wimbledon could be 16-year-old Michelle Larcher de Brito.
At the French Open, her opponent Aravane Rezai complained about the racket across the net, telling the umpire it was distracting her.
But the loudest offender insisted that she is not a cheat. “I am not a cheat. They are part of my strokes,” insists Portuguese Michelle Larcher de Brito, 16, whose 109-decibel blast is same as an F1 car. “I’ve always been loud but I’m not trying to distract opponents.When I don’t grunt it feels weird because it’s not me,” The Sun quoted her, as saying.The Williams sisters — Venus and Serena — have had their grunts recorded at 90 decibels.
Unrepentant as she heads into Wimbledon’s first round as a wild card, Larcher de Brito has said grunting is “just something I have done always since I started playing tennis. I am going to keep on doing it. It is really part of my game.”
Nine-time Wimbledon champion Navratilova, who found the grunting of Monica Seles off-putting, feels tennis officials should take a stand.
“The grunting has reached an unacceptable level. It is cheating pure and simple and it is time for something to be done,” she said. Jimmy Connors grunted his way to eight Grand Slam victories in the 1970s and 80s. Ivan Lendl complained that Andre Agassi’s grunting put him off. Today female players are under the spotlight as “decibel demons”.
A lion’s roar is reckoned to reach 110 decibels. Maria Sharapova, who says she grunted since the age of four and cannot help it, has been measured at 101. At a news conference on Saturday, the first question to Sharapova was about grunting.
She was asked to comment on former champion Michael Stich saying that women players should not grunt because it was not sexy and sex appeal was the main attraction of women’s tennis. “No, I don’t have an opinion on that,” she replied crisply.
Men First RoundResults
Roger Federer (2) def. Yen-Hsun Lu 7-5, 6-3, 6-2
Novak Djokovic (4) def. Julien Benneteau 6-7(8-10),7-6(7-1),6-2,6-4
Fernando Verdasco (7) def. James Ward 6-1, 6-3, 6-4
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (9) def. Andrey Golubev 6-3,5-7,7-6(7-4),7-6(7-5)
Marin Cilic (11) def. Alberto Martin 6-3, 6-4, 6-4
Robin Soderling (13) def. Gilles Muller 6-7(4-7),7-5,6-1,6-2
Tommy Robredo (15) def. Luka Gregorc 7-6(7-4),6-4,5-7,7-6(7-3)
James Blake (17) vs. Andreas Seppi 5-7,4-6,6-7(5-7)
Rainer Schuettler (18) def. Xavier Malisse 6-7(9-11),6-4,7-6(7-3),6-1
Feliciano Lopez (21) vs. Karol Beck 6-1,5-7,3-6,6-4,8-10
Ivo Karlovic (22) def. Lukas Lacko 6-3,7-6(7-4),6-3
Tommy Haas (24) vs. Alexander Peya 6-7(5-7),7-6,6-3,4-4 suspended
Philipp Kohlschreiber (27) def. Florent Serra 7-6(7-3),6-1,6-4
Mardy Fish (28) def. Sergio Roitman 6-3,6-2,4-1 retired
Igor Andreev (29) def. Evgeny Korolev 4-6,7-6(7-2),6-4,7-6(7-4)
Albert Montanes (32) def. Grega Zemlja 6-4,6-4,6-4
Paul Capdeville vs. Vincent Spadea 0-6,4-6,5-7
Adrian Mannarino vs. Marc Gicquel 2-6,2-6,4-6
Simone Bolelli def. Daniel Koellerer 6-7(3-7),2-6,7-5,6-4,6-4
Simon Greul def. Michael Yani 6-4,6-2,7-5
Nicolas Almagro def. Juan Monaco 6-7 (3-7),6-7(7-9),7-6(7-5),6-4,8-6
Steve Darcis def. Frank Dancevic 6-4,7-6(7-4),6-3
Jan Hernych vs. Janko Tipsarevic 4-6,4-6,6-7(4-7)
Dudi Sela def. Santiago Gonzalez 6-4,4-6,7-6(7-2),6-3
Nicolas Mahut vs. Kristof Vliegen 3-6,6-7(6-8),7-5,7-5,4-6
Michael Llodra vs. Joshua Goodall 4-6,7-6(7-5) suspended
Ivo Minar def. Maximo Gonzalez 6-4,3-6,7-5,6-0
Sam Querrey def. Danai Udomchoke 6-3,6-4,6-4
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez def. Agustin Calleri 6-2,6-3,6-2
Diego Junqueira vs. Guillermo Canas 1-6,2-6,2-6
Edouard Roger-Vasselin vs. Stefan Koubek 5-7,3-6,6-4,6-3,3-6
Marcel Granollers def. Andreas Beck 6-2,6-4,6-7(4-7),6-2
Women First Round Results
Serena Williams (2) def. Neuza Silva 6-1, 7-5
Elena Dementieva (4) def. Alla Kudryavtseva 6-4, 6-1
Vera Zvonareva (7) vs. Georgie Stoop 7-6, 4-6 suspended
Victoria Azarenka (8) def. Severine Beltrame 6-2 retired
Nadia Petrova (10) def. Anastasiya Yakimova 6-1, 6-1
Marion Bartoli (12) def. Chan Yung-Jan 6-0, 6-0
Dominika Cibulkova (14) def. Julie Coin 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
Jie Zheng (16) def. Kristina Barrois 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-4)
Ai Sugiyama def. Patty Schnyder (21) 6-4, 6-4
Alize Cornet (22) vs. Vera Dushevina 6-3, 0-6, 2-4 suspended
Aleksandra Wozniak (23) vs. Francesca Schiavone 6-4, 4-6, 4-6
Maria Sharapova (24) def. Viktoria Kutuzova 7-5, 6-4
Virginie Razzano (26) def. Tamira Paszek 6-0, 3-1 retired
Alisa Kleybanova (27) def. Sesil Karatantcheva 6-2, 7-5
Sorana Cirstea (28) def. Edina Gallovits 7-5, 6-1
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (31) def. Petra Cetkovska 6-2, 6-2
Yanina Wickmayer vs. Elena Vesnina 1-6, 1-6
Roberta Vinci def. Magdalena Rybarikova 6-3, 6-2
Gisela Dulko def. Stephanie Foretz 6-3, 7-5
Lucie Safarova vs. Jarmila Groth 3-6, 6-3, 3-6
Timea Bacsinszky def. Vesna Manasieva 6-1, 4-6, 8-6
Aravane Rezai def. Ayumi Morita 6-2, 6-2
Melanie South vs. Mathilde Johansson 5-7, 6-7 (5-7)
Nathalie Dechy vs. Ioana Raluca Olaru 6-1, 6-7, 2-6
Jill Craybas def. Tsvetana Pironkova 6-4, 7-5
Masa Zec Peskiric vs. Urszula Radwanska 3-6, 3-6
Maria Camerin vs. Shahar Peer 2-6, 6-7 (3-7)
Michelle Larcher De Brito def. Klara Zakopalova 6-2, 7-5
Anna-Lena Groenefeld vs. Sania Mirza 2-6, 6-2, 2-6
Daniela Hantuchova def. Laura Robson 3-6, 6-4, 6-2
Karolina Sprem vs. Regina Kulikova 6-4, 5-7, 3-6
Tamarine Tanasugarn vs. Arantxa Parra Santonja 4-6, 4-6
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