Key events
Still to come today, we’ve got Wu v Djokovic (7), Linette v Andreeva (5), Korpatsch v Gauff (7), Muchova (10) v Zakharova and Nakashima (28) v Pinnington Jones.
Auger-Aliassime has taken the first set against Shevchenko 6-3; Medvedev leads Cilic 2-1 4-4; Krejcikova leads Klugman 2-0; Davidovich Fokina leads Cerundolo J, of Sinner/Paris fame, 6-4 3-2; and Kasatkina leads GB’s Xu 6-2.
I’m sure she’s reading, so it’s entirely appropriate to wish the wonderful Chrissy Evert all the best as she takes on cancer yet again. We’ll miss her empathetic insight these next two weeks, but look forward to having her back again soon.
Immediately, Sabalenka breaks and consolidates; welcome to the big leagues, Teodora old mate … who, as I type, is broken again to trail 0-3 in the first.
On Centre, Sabalenka is under way against the 19-year-old Kostovic. She’s made four Wimbledon semis but never a final; will this be her year? Well, she’s won neither of this year’s majors, losing to Rybakina in the Aussie Open final and collapsing against Daria Shnaider in Paris, but her best is still the best.
On 14, Struff and Baez are about to start one of the least surprising deciders we’ll come across; on No 1, Medvedev has put Cilic over the knee and leads 6-1 6-2 3-2; Rinderknech leads Tarvet 2-1 2-1l and Krejcikova hasjust got under way against GB’s Klugman.
“You should be grateful we’ve only got automated line calls, reckons Richard Hirst. “How long before we’re watching AI clones of Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk when they decide they want to win Wimbledon? My pet hate? The fifth set tiebreak. My only visit to Wimbledon was in 1969 when I saw Pancho Gonzales and Charlie Pasarell in what was then Wimbledon’s longest match. That kind of match creates memories.”
I know what you mean, but can also see why Isner-Anderson killed it and, in tennis history, we’re only talking about a few matches that went long that we couldn’t do without.
On 15, Ethan Quinn, the young American who made round three in Melbourne and Paris, has beaten Luciano Darderi, the no 14 seed, 6, 5 and 2. That’s a brilliant win; next up is Mochizuki, the Japanese qualifier.
Righto, I need to find another match to watch … and it’s going to be Auger-Aliassime (3) 2-1 Shevchenko, with a break.
She says Jacquemot waplaying amazing” in the second set so she had to dig deep and is delighted to be through in two.
As for the dress, it makes a difference because she finds fashion fun, her Japanese heritage means a lot, Wimbledon is all white, and so she wanted to come out in a kimono. She loves the film Kill Bill, referencing O-Ren Ishii’s “iconic white kimono” and she likes to be a video game character sometimes, not herself on court, and so she tried to embody the character.
People don’t believe her when she says she’s shy, but this feels like exposure therapy and she’s been more outgoing since the start of the year. It’s good for her to get out of her shell.
OK, let’s do Osaka’s interview…
Next on Centre: Aryna Sabalenka (1) v Teodora Kostovic.
Sinner, wearing a top that looks like it was knitted by his gran, says it’s a huge honour to open the tournament. This was his first appearance on grass, the third set was a tough one to lose, and it’s a big honour to play in such an arena.
Asked about his fall, he says he’s fine and the blood on his shoe makes things look worse than they are. He’s not sure if it infringes the predominantly white rule, but didn’t want to change as he and Miomir were both in rhythm.
There are a lot of nerves when you come down the stairs to Centre, he’s very happy to win the first match and he’s aiming to improve in the next one. He felt he made a lot of forehand errors in sets one and two but that’s normal first-round matches are never easy, and he tried to raise his level when he needed to.
Jannik Sinner (1) beats Miomir Kecmanovic 4-6 6-3 (6)6-7 6-2 6-3
The champ blows away the cobwebs and looked strong in the final two sets. Next for him: Nuno Borges.
Fonseca wlil be delighted to be off court so early…
Kecmanovic holds, meaning Sinner must now serve for the match at 5-3 in the fifth.
Naomi Osaka (14) beats Elsa Jacquemot 6-1 7-5
Next for her comes Gasanova or Arango, and she looked excellent – on more ways than one.
Sinner holds for 5-2 in the fifth, and Kecmanovic doesn’t quite have the game to make it happen when it’s tight. Meantime, Osaka has indeed broken Jacquemot and, at 6-1 6-5 have three match points…
João Fonseca (24) beats Roberto Bautista Agut 7-6(4) 6-4 6-3
This is Bautista Agut’s last Wimbledon, so the two share a nice moment at the end. He’s also the best footballer on tour – he was on Villarreal’s books – a mantel that might soon pass to Flavio Cobolli. ext for Fonseca: De Jong or Hijikata.
It’s been a great effort, but Kecmanovic might be done for. Down 15-40, he nets a forehand, and at 4-2 in the fifth, Sinner is just two games from victory.
Back on Centre, Sinner leads Kecmanovic 3-2 on serve in the fifth; Osaka leads Jacquemot 6-1 5-5; Medvedev leads Sinner 6-1 3-2 on serve; Tarvet has just broken Rinderknech to trail 6-7 6-7 4-3; and Maroszan leads Tirante 7-5 3-1.
Zheng thanks the crowd for their support, saying it’s an honour to be part of a match like this, and it’s every kid’s dream. Asked about his composure, he says it’s not easy but he tries his best not to show it – it’s frustrating when you’ve not converted chances, but he tries to keep things inside.
Wimbledon is “far and away the best tournament” and he hopes to keep the run going in “an amazing place.”
I can’t wait to see him in round two.
Michael Zheng beats Cameron Norrie (26) (7)6-7 6-2 (2)6-7 6-3 7-6(4)
A brilliant performance from Zheng and the win of his life earns him a match with either Vallejo or Mejia next. He’ll take that.
Oh, and humdinging forehand, backing away to the backhand side to go corner to corner, means Zheng has five match points at 9-4 in the match breaker!
Zheng is playing a fine breaker, a pair of holds giving him 7-4, then an error from Norrie tajes him two points away at 8-4. This is an amazing show of big-match temperament.
A superb return allows Norrie to the net, where he puts away a volley to retrieve the mini-break at 3-3; on Centre, Sinner is playing fairly well, leading 2-1 in the fifth.
It was coming: back on 3, Osaka breaks Jacquemot for 6-1 3-4, and the way she’s playing from here she might well run away with it.
Yes he can, and impressively so too. And Zheng also holds, with greater aggravation, meaning he and Norrie are now playing a match breaker … in which he leads 2-0 having been handed a double.
Sinner holds for 1-0, also in the fifth, and this next game is a biggun. Can Kecmanovic force his way into the set with a hold?
Medvedev has taken a 6-1 set off Cilic, then held for 1-0 in the second; on two, Norrie leads 6-5 in the fifth and we’re on deuce, Zheng serving.
“Mixed feelings watching the Sinner-Kecmanovic game,” admits Simon Morris. “Lack of line judges makes the court tidier somehow, but the emotionless robo-calls lack sense of occasion – couldn’t they have programmed it with authentic line-judge grunts and shouts? Call me a luddite, but that was part of the Wimbles experience.”
I agree – I think I’d prefer humans and errors than computers and perfection.
In five-setters, Sinner’s record is … 6-12. In fairness, of those defeats, one came against Nadal, two against Djokovic, three Alcaraz, one Zverev and one Medvedev, but he’ll know about it and who knows if it’s spooking him a little. We’ll soon see – having nipped off for a break, he’s now back and we’re ready to move.
As discussed, I’ve got four matches on, so there’s a fair amount of noise in my box room. But by far the loudest is coming from the commentary team watching Zheng v Norrie – they’re absolutely loving the youngster’s performance and prospects.
Sinner gets to advantage … then Kecmanovic goes long on the forehand. That concludes a 6-2 set and as a consequence of clinching it with a break, Sinner will be serving first in the decider.
Wow, Zheng holds to love and actually, this has the feel of a match that could go a ridiculous distance, had we not inserted the match breaker into proceedings. Norrie is serving at 5-5 in the fifth; Medvedev leads Cilic 5-1 in the first; having taken the first 6-1, Osaka now trials Jacquemot 3-0 in the second; Rinderknech leads Tarvet 7-6 7-6; and Fonseca is nearly home, up 7-6 6-4 5-2 on Bautista Agut.
Gosh, but Norrie then goes for too much, perhaps incited so to do by Zheng’s ridiculous court-coverage … but again, his serve saves him. And from there, Norrie serves out, roaring at the crowd; he leads 5-4 in the fifth, and now has a chance to break for the match. Sinner meantime, has consolidated for 5-2 in the fourth; we look headed for a decider.
OK, Sinner lays a drop, Kecmanovic can’t get it back, he has two break points at 15-40 … and he only needs one, a forehand to the corner returned long while, on 2, a brilliant forehand winner from the corner means Zheng has break point at 4-4 in the fifth … but nets a return. This is a jazzer of a match – if you can, get it on.
On No 2, Zheng is playing beautifully, saluting the crowd after a winner and holding through deuce for 4-4 in the fifth. He looks at least as fresh as the famously well-conditioned Norrie, and I don’t think he’ll bottle it as we near the finish line.
Osaka is far, far too good for Jacquemot, securing a 6-1 set while, on No 1, Medvedev has broken cilic early doors for 2-1 in the first.
Back with the champ, he’s up 2-1 in the fourth, on serve, but Kecmanovic will take some breaking. He’s not, actually, the kind I’d expect to give one of the greats grief – he’s decent all round, but lacks big weapons. For now, though, he’s playing pretty much as well as he can, levelling at 2-2 in the time it takes me to type out this post.
Osaka is into it now, leading Jacquemot 4-1 in the first. I don’t think she can win the competition without first improving her volleying, or at least incorporating net-play into her game, but she’s capable of beating anyone on any surface in a one-off; including Aryna Sabalenka, whom she’s seeded to meet in round four.
Like the group stages of the World Cup, the first week of Wimbledon isn’t really about the favourites, rather the surprise classics and upsets. But if Sinner were to lose here, we’d be talking about one of the biggest first-round shocks of all time; two others bigguns that come to mind, Dooohan beating Becker in 1987 and Dustin Brown seeing off Nadal in 2015, were in round two.
Righto, let’s have a look around the courts. Norrie leads Zheng 2-1 in the fifth, on serve; Osaka leads Jacquemot 2-1; Rinderknech leads Tarvet 7-6 3-4; Fonseca leads Bautista Agut 7-6 6-4 1-0; and Cilic is just about to serve in game one against Medvedev.
Kecmanovic holds for 7-6, then a big forehand takes control of the next point, Sinner swats a backhand, he leaves it … and it’s long! MIOMIR KECMANOVIC LEADS JANNIK SINNER, THE DEFENDING CHAMPION, BY TWO SETS TO ONE! WHAT ON EARTH IS GOING ON?!
Naomi Osaka makes a very stylish entrance
What a brilliant, brilliant woman. Osaka is already a superstar, but if she can just assert herself at the very top once more, she’ll go stratospheric.
Oh my days! An absurd rally doth ensue, Sinner in control, but then Kecmanovic gets back a drop, the return lob isn’t high enough, and a backhand overhead allows him to eventually secure the point from there. This is terrific stuff and we’re now at 6-6.
Well you’ll have to wait a while longer because Sinner has just overhit a backhand down the line – how rarely do we see that? – and he’s down 4-5. Of course, he then nails a forehand to level us up again, back it up with an ace, and Kecmanovic must now serve at 5-6 down .
