Serena Williams made it look easy. Sam Stosur made it look frustrating. And the remaining British players made it look like not much fun.
On the second day of Wimbledon, the French Open finalist went out in the first round, the defending champion looked like a champion, and Elena Baltacha and Anne Keothavong lost the battle of nerves. Baltacha served for the match in her second set against Petra Martic (who, by the way, has an abdominal strain, and has given her second round opponent, Marion Bartoli, a walkover), but was defeated in the third set. Keothavong was up 4-0 in the third, but lost to Anastasia Rodionova. Wild card Heather Watson, who hit 34 winners, played a good first-ever match in a major, but lost in three sets to Romina Oprandi.
Oprandi was off of the tour for a long time--the rumor was that she had retired--because of an injury to her right forearem. She returned in 2008, however. Today, she arrived on the court with multiple bandages on her leg, and even had a group consult about her injury (as well as a fast medical check) when she called for the trainer. She showed no sign of injury or weakness during the match, however, and--as usual--she exhibited no affect (not the Chris Evert impenetrable affect, but no affect at all) at any point during the match. Oprandi won the first set 6-4, Watson totally dominated the second set, winning it 6-1, but the Italian successfully used her drop shot-passing shot combination to win the third 6-3. This was Oprandi's first victory in a major.
Williams, making her 2010 Wimbledon debut in her new strawberries and cream outfit, defeated Michelle Larcher De Brito 6-0, 6-4. A good-humored Tathiana Garbin made the final moments of her match against 3rd seed Caroline Wozniacki a funny affair; Wozniacki won it 6-1, 6-1. Gisela Dulko and Andrea Petkovic both went out, to Monica Niculescu and Anna Chakvetadze, respectively. And Tammy Tanasugarn, who has always had her best major results at Wimbledon, was defeated in the first round by Ayumi Morita.
I was very sorry to see Heather Watson out. What heart. What fight. She battled hard but her serve let her down. It was the first time I was seeing Oprandi play and let us just say I was not impressed. She used gamesmanship to get this win and I am surprised that she was not booed for it. She lurched around the court the whole time and she dinked and doinked her way to the victory. This is what I call a phyric victory and I hope she stops at the first round.
ReplyDeleteSerena looked good today. It is such a pleasure to watch her play. No nerves. No holding back. No drama. Just clean hitting. Larcher deBrito was quiet today. Serena never really let her get into the shrieking as the points were so short. Nice match. They were tested in their first doubles match today but came out on the winning side.
Stosur. I knew that she got a tough draw when I saw Kanepi's name as Kanepi pushed Serena in a first round match a few years ago at Wimbledon. She has really done wonders on her fitness and I really do see her going far. Stosur may never admit it but that loss to Fran must hurt. It is like she did all the heavy lifting and has nothing to show for it. She is also beginning to exhibit some negativity on the court, so much so that she was cited for a code violation for ball abuse in Eastbourne. It is like one extreme to another.
Sharapova looked good, but then she always looks good on the first day. Petkovic is out in 3. Not surprised at all.
Hope tomorrow gives us some very good matches
I was sorry to see Heather go out, too. Heather is quite clever on the court, and a delight off of the court. I hadn't seen Oprandi in a long time, and I had forgotten how--shall we say, unusual--her presence is. I don't think she's going to last long.
ReplyDeleteSerena was so smooth today. I really enjoyed watching her (and I like her strawberries and cream dress).