The 2016 Wimbledon Championships—Week One

Week one of the Wimbledon Championships has ended but not without some notable “upsets”!

The biggest upset was “mother nature”; for the first time in 12 years and for the fourth time in the 139 year history of the Wimbledon Champhionships Games, tennis will be played on the Middle Sunday, also known as the “People’s Sunday”.  The Middle Sunday was implemented as a result of an agreement between the organizers of the championships and the local residents who insisted on there being a day of rest; thus, Middle Sunday/The People’s Sunday. During the first week of play, the rain would not stop therefore, tennis matches had to.  Middle Sunday is needed in order to garner more court time to allow suspended matches or matches still waiting to be played to get done.  2016 joins 1919, 1997 and 2004 as years that the Middle Sunday was used.

 By the way, fans were ecstatic about The People’s Sunday being used; within 27 minutes, 22,000 tickets had been sold!     

Samuel Querrey of the United States and Novak Djokovic of Serbia began play on Friday, the 1^st of July, on court one but due to “mother nature” had to suspend play after the first two sets due to rain.   Both men left the court that night with the following knowledge:  Querrey was leading Djokovic two sets to love!  How much sleep either of them got that night is still known only to them; I can imagine Querrey tossed and turned because he was only one game away from beating the #1 ranked tennis player in the world and Djokovic tossed and turned because he had to make a comeback and win 3 straight games to a player ranked 28!   It was an anxious night, I’m sure, for both of them!

They resumed play on Saturday and Djokovic came back much better; he won the  third set 6-3; most observers thought for sure that Djokovic was on his way back but that didn’t turn out to be the case.  A second rain delay occurred during the fourth set and after the score was tied 1-1.  The fourth set resumed play with Djokovic still digging deep, keeping the game tied and holding his own.  In spite of Querrey serving 15 aces in the fourth set alone, Djokovic managed to brake Querrey at 5-4 but right after that, gave the brake back.  Querrey was holding at 6-5 when “mother nature” decided to call a halt to the game a third time; again, due to rain.  I’m quite sure Djokovic had the more stressful hour long wait as he had on his mind, the fact that he had to hold to stay in the match and hold he did!  However, in the tie break Djokovic had a lapse and gave up a three point lead. He went on to save one match point at 4-6 but then made an errant forehand thereby, yielding the win to Querrey. Querrey won 7-6 (8-6), 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5).

Another notable upset is the Willis vs. Berankis match.  The “Brit” Marcus Willis ranked #772 in the world beat out #54 ranked Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania in straight sets; 6-3, 6-3, 6-4!  Willis had almost decided to quit tennis; he had an opportunity to go to Philadelphia, Pa. to coach but then he met “the girl” who told him not to and he did what he was told!  She encouraged him not to give up. He became the last man to gain entrance into the pre-qualifying draw.  He won the required matches which qualified him for the main qualifying event. He then won the necessary matches which allowed him to actually participate in the grand slam; and the rest is history!  The win put him in line to play the great Rodger Federer on center court and to earn the largest check he had ever earned 50,000 pounds!  Willis won the hearts of the tennis fans with his quirky smile and the pure joy he exuded while playing.  Although he lost to Federer, he was happy to have had the opportunity and now wants to continue playing professional tennis!

            Garbine Muguruza of Spain, ranked #2 in the world was upset in the 2^nd round in straight sets by Jana Cepelova of Slovakia, ranked #124.  In less than an hour, she was beaten 6-3, 6-2!  Muguruza made no excuses for her poor performance; she simply admitted she was out of energy!  Her first Grand Slam final appearance had been the 2015 Wimbledon Championships!  She beat number #1 Serena Williams at the 2016 French Open; this was her first Grand Slam title.  Lesson learned:  She must learn how to pace herself between the “Slams”.

10^th ranked Petra Kvitova of Czechoslovakia, a two-time Wimbledon champion… was beaten by Russia’s Ekaterina Makarova, ranked 35^th in the world 7-5, 7-6 (7-5).  Kvitova’s 43 unforced errors assisted Makarova’s win in a little under two hours.

Lastly, Britains #1 Johanna Konta, ranked #16 worldwide, was upset by former 5^th ranked Eugenie Bouchard of Canada; currently ranked #43 worldwide.  The winning score was 6-3, 1-6, 6-1.  Why is Konta worth noting; she is the first British women to be seeded at the Wimbledon Championships in 32 years!

 The match between the Argentine Juan Martin del Potro, ranked 165th and Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland, ranked #4 must be noted, if for nothing else, but the difference in the ranking!  Del Potro had been out of the game for more than two years due to injury problems; three wrist surgeries.  Del Potro won the US Open in 2009 and Wawrinka has won both the Australian and French Opens; 2014 and 2015 respectively.  Winning score line was 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(7-2), 6-3.

The second half of the Wimbledon Championships will begin on Monday, July 4, 2016.  Serena Williams is picked by most to win the “Slam”!  It would be her 22^nd Grand Slam singles title bringing her to a tie with Steffi Graff!  That would tie them for having more singles titles than any other tennis player, man or female!   However, odds makers caution us that Madison Keys and Angelique Kerber are real threats to Serena.  On the men’s side, since the upset of Djokovic, Andy Murray has been pegged by most to take the Wimbledon’s men’s singles title although there are others who favor Roger Federer, and yet still others warn us to pay attention to Kyrgios and Raonic.  Who do you believe the winners will be?

Tags: Tennis