No sticky wickets as all the big hitters reign supreme at SW19

Wednesday 22 June 2011

analysis Williams, Federer, Djokovic and Sharapova all make light work of their opponents on a busy day on Centre Court, reports Stewart Fisher

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THE England cricket team settled into their seats in the Royal Box yesterday, safe in the knowledge they had quite an innings in front of them. The rain may have curtailed the third Test against Sri Lanka at the Rose Bowl last week but Messrs Strauss, Pietersen, Swann et al not only had a Centre Court line-up of Serena Williams, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Maria Sharapova to look forward to, they also had a retractable roof to call upon if needed. It promised to be instructive to see which, if any, of these big hitters for this year’s singles prizes at SW19 would end up on a sticky wicket.

As it turned out, they did see some waterworks after all. After almost an entire calendar year out, the reigning women’s singles champion sat quietly weeping into her towel after coming through 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 against Aravane Rezai. Despite everything the younger Williams sister has been through in the last 12 months – the lacerated ankle tendon which led to a blood clot in her lung – not everyone expected her to be fully extended by the challenge of the French-Iranian. But, from the moment the swashbuckling Rezai made good on her fourth break point in the opening game, this proved to be a test match all right. “I didn’t expect to have any emotions,” said Serena, who played with strapping on her back, and despite the ill-effects of a cold. “I just expected to, you know, walk off. But this was probably the most emotional I’ve got after a match.” The Centre Court these days is a cross between a cherished old heirloom and a state-of-the-art modern sports arena. Although it dates back to 1922 and was badly damaged by the Nazis in the Second World War, since 2009 it has had a plush new roof and its own airflow system. There was a minor malfunction yesterday. Feedback from some technological gadget or other was emitting a high-pitched sound and no sooner had it abated than a Rezai drop shot skipped off the net to break the Williams serve. Rezai held to 30, but Williams got rid of the gremlins and came roaring back in a manner which suggested she had taken personal affront. She broke back for 2-2 and before long was sealing the set 6-3. The frailties were back in the second set, however. A combination of unforced errors from the American and inspired Rezai winners took matters to a decider. Williams looked vulnerable. But she clearly thought otherwise. She promptly produced her best piece of tennis and two service breaks later was serving out the set 6-1 and sitting crumpled in her chair in the release and relief of long-awaited victory.Next from the pavilion was Roger Federer, as he started his latest bid to equal William Renshaw and Pete Sampras’ record of seven Wimbledon titles. Despite being taken close by Alejandro Falla this time last year – the Colombian served for the match – Federer hadn’t lost in the first round of a grand slam since the 2003 French Open. Amazingly, he had played less competitive grass court tennis than Williams in the last year, having opted out of his usual pre-Wimbledon warm-up at Halle. Federer had tumbled out to Tomas Berdych at the quarter- final stage at SW19 last year, but he returned with his fortunes transformed by the assistance of Paul Annacone, the man who coached Sampras to nine of his 14 grand slam wins. His opponent was Mikhail Kukushkin, the 23-year-old world No.61 from Kazhakstan.The first set went to a tie-break but, by the end, Federer’s dominance was total. He gave up just three break points on his serve in the match, winning them all, and was never in trouble. Kukushkin was given his marching orders by a 7-6, 6-4, 6-2 scoreline in 1hr 42min.None the less, ever the perfectionist, Federer blamed the blustery wind, and even the Centre Court conditions for relaxing him too much for any blemishes on his performance. But he did admit he was master of his own destiny at SW19 this year. “The first rounds at Wimbledon are never easy,” he said. “They are somewhat nerve-racking but it feels like if things go well for me I can go far here; whereas at the French Open I feel it is a bit more on other people’s rackets.” Djokovic was in even more of a hurry as he despatched France’s Jeremy Chardy. The imposing 24-year-old from Pau has pretensions of being an actor once his tennis career is over but the slimline Serb – who has lost just once all year – limited his limelight on Wimbledon’s main stage to just 1:20. Djokovic broke in the ninth game of the first set and, Murraylike, permitted the Frenchman just two games thereafter. He conceded a total of 11 points on serve in a 6-4, 6-1, 6-1 victory.“It is true that there is a different approach to this year’s Wimbledon from my side, because I’ve been playing the best tennis of my life in the last six months,” he said. “I know I can perform equally well on this surface as I do on the other ones.” The day’s three main attractions had completed work so quickly that the Centre Court crowd were given the added bonus of seeing Sharapova get her campaign under way. The 2004 champion and No.5 seed is well fancied this year and duly eased through 6-2, 6-1 against coutrywoman Anna Chakvetadze.Alongside the cricketers in the Royal Box yesterday was Diana Ross. It would be fair to say Wimbledon’s big hitters reigned supreme on Centre Court yesterday.

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No sticky wickets as all the big hitters reign supreme at SW19

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