News

Tennis > Federer gets fright, Williams cruising
By Robin Millard
June 22, 2010

Roger Federer and Venus Williams, the undisputed stars of Wimbledon over the past decade, had wildly contrasting starts as the 2010 championships swung into action.

Swiss top seed Federer survived what was shaping up to be one of the lowest points in his career by recovering from two sets down to beat Colombia's Alejandro Falla in a match that went past the three-hour mark.

Meanwhile Williams breezed past Paraguay's Rossana de los Rios in 64 minutes on Monday.

Elsewhere, it was all smiles for the Belgian comeback girls Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin, who both made it through in straight sets on their return to the All England Club.

But there was no such luck for French Open winner Francesca Schiavone. The Italian fifth seed fell at the first hurdle.

Andy Roddick, the man Federer beat in last year's epic final, had a much easier ride through to the second round, while 2002 champion Lleyton Hewitt lost the first set but pulled through.

Federer, who is chasing a record-equalling seventh Wimbledon men's title, reflected on his troubled start.

"I've lost many matches this season I should have won and today I won a match I should have lost. He played incredible," he said.

"My whole game was sort of in disarray.

"One thing for sure you can do is push the luck on your side. That's not something I have been doing maybe enough the last few months."

Meanwhile Williams needed no such luck.

"Really a long day at the tennis," said the world number two. "Everything was pretty straightforward."

The five-time Wimbledon champion said she could hardly bear to watch Federer's match.

"It was a tight match. It's tough to watch someone like him get so close to losing. So I tried not to watch it," she said.

Belgian eighth seed Clijsters, who made her first appearance at Wimbledon since reaching the 2006 semi-finals following a spell in retirement, marked her return with a straight sets victory over Italy's Maria Elena Camerin.

"I was nervous but also excited to be out here, to be on the new Court 2, I had to find my way to get there," the US Open champion said.

"Luckily the security guard knew where we were going, because I actually had no idea.

"I know that if I play my best tennis I can definitely compete with the top players."

Meanwhile 17th seed Henin, who spent 20 months in retirement, made her first All England Club appearance since 2007.

"Wimbledon has been one of the reasons why I decided to come back from retirement," she said.

"It's just the atmosphere, the way we breathe tennis and live tennis over here. You feel the tradition of the game."

Women's defending champion Serena Williams gets her campaign under way Tuesday against Portuguese teenager Michelle Larcher de Brito.

Serbian third seed Novak Djokovic and Belgium's Olivier Rochus agreed to play on under the roof lights in another five-set thriller on Centre Court, with Djokovic clinching a 4-6 6-2 3-6 6-4 6-2 victory.

The finish time of 10:58pm was the latest ever at Wimbledon.

Women's fourth seed Jelena Jankovic overcame the home crowd and a gritty performance from 16-year-old British wild card Laura Robson, the youngest in the women's draw, who was making her Centre Court debut.

Among the other women's seeds, Marion Bartoli, Nadia Petrova, Yanina Wickmayer, Vera Zvonareva, Alisa Kleybanova, Maria Kirilenko and Yaroslava Shvedova also progressed.

In the men's competition, 11th seed Marin Cilic was the biggest faller, while Ivan Ljubicic, Stanislas Wawrinka and Tommy Robredo also lost.

Seventh seed Nikolay Davydenko made it through, as did fellow seeds Tomas Berdych, Jurgen Melzer, Gael Monfils, Feliciano Lopez, Albert Montanes and Victor Hanescu.
Share |

 

 
 
Close