After Roger Federer and Serena Williams recorded first-round wins at Wimbledon, Michael Hincks brings you three talking points from day one at SW19, and three things to look out for on an action-packed Tuesday.
Three today
Cilic will trouble Federer
Marin Cilic followed up his impressive victory at Queen’s with a quick straight-sets win over Yoshihito Nishioka. In a half of big-servers, the Croatian proved once more that he has much more to his game than just rolling down ace after ace, and highlighted how his baseline game is becoming more accomplished with age.
He was powerless to prevent Federer claiming an eighth Wimbledon title in last year’s final, and succumbed to the Swiss once more in the Australian Open final six months ago, but Cilic appears to have moved up another gear.
The duo are destined to meet in the last four this time around, and while they are both four wins away from a potential rematch, revenge will already be on the mind of Cilic, who suffered both physically and mentally when losing the final 12 months ago.
Mixed day for Brits
Moments of hope were all too fleeting for British wildcards Harriet Dart and Liam Broady. British No 5 Dart was proving more than a match for seventh seed Karolina Pliskova, one week after beating the Czech’s twin sister Kristyna at Eastbourne, but experience told as the former world No 1 took the deciding set 6-1.
It was then Broady’s turn to fly the flag on Court One, but after going toe-to-toe with 2016 finalist Milos Raonic for the first 10 games, the 24-year-old capitulated, losing 14 of the next 15 games.
Despair then turned to joy as wildcard and world No 204 Katie Swan enjoyed a 6-2 6-2 win over Irina-Camelia Begu.
The British baton is passed on to seeded duo Johanna Konta and Kyle Edmund, among others, on Tuesday. Both remain the nation’s greatest hopes, but with Simona Halep and Novak Djokovic potentially waiting as third-round opponents, we may not see them for long.
Federer’s conqueror conquered
When the draw was made last week, it appeared to be a rather favourable one for Federer, with one sticky point being a potential fourth-round meeting with Borna Coric, the man who beat him in the Halle Open final last week.
However, the Croatian fell at the first hurdle at Wimbledon, falling in straight sets out on Court 12 to Russian Daniil Medvedev.
It was a shock, of sorts, but with the 16th seed out, the draw becomes even kinder for Federer, though all 198cm of Medvedev will be working towards the prospect of a Centre Court date with the game’s greatest when the second week comes around.
Three tomorrow
Djokovic is fooling no one
The bottom half of the man’s draw is brimming with quality, and while Rafael Nadal will be the main attraction on Tuesday, there will be more than a keen eye on Novak Djokovic’s match against Tennys Sandgren, with the three-time Wimbledon winner looking close to his best after a difficult two years.
The Serb has downplayed his own chances of Wimbledon glory, but he arrives as a losing finalist at Queen’s, having narrowly lost to Marin Cilic after squandering a match point – an indication that is fooling no one when belittling his prospects.
The 31-year-old has a somewhat generous draw, too, with Alexander Zverev and Dominic Thiem the two top-eight players in his quarter, and though it’s easy to map out Djokovic’s route to the last four already, first and foremost it will be about dispatching Sandgren, who enjoyed a shock run to the Australian Open quarter-finals earlier this year.
Shackles off Halep?
World No 1 Halep can finally call herself a Grand Slam champion after victory at the French Open, and the Romanian will look to bring that momentum with her to Wimbledon.
The 26-year-old has not played competitively since her final victory over Sloane Stephens, and she will have to get up to speed quickly at Wimbledon. The courts play much faster than at Roland Garros, and world No 100 Kurumi Nara will be out to claim the biggest scalp of her career on Tuesday.
It will be up to Halep to prove she is a worthy No 1 seed, and that she is capable of reaching her first Wimbledon final.
Quality away from the show-courts
If you needed a reminder of how packed this bottom half of the men’s draw is, you need only look at the Order of Play.
Juan Martin del Potro first up on Court 3, Kei Nishikori first on Court 14, Nick Kyrgios second on Court 12 – it’s a treat for those who have ground passes, while those on Court 2 have Konta, Alexander Zverev, Dominic Thiem and Maria Sharapova all to look forward to.
It should make for an enthralling day’s tennis, and unpredictable too. Kyrgios and Zverev are the flagbearers of the next generation, and it will be fascinating to see how they start. Sometimes the pressure can get too much.