It is two years and a day since Rafael Nadal last played a grass-court tennis match, but the two-time former Wimbledon champion showed few signs of rust against John Millman. Nadal slapped 33 winners past the Australian on No.1 Court as he dropped just six games to wrap up victory in 105 minutes.
Now for his next assignment: winning back-to-back matches at Wimbledon for the first time in three years, with Donald Young awaiting the Spaniard in the second round.
“Was a very positive match for me, a good start,” said Nadal, who refused to rest on his laurels. “That doesn’t mean a lot. The only thing that means is today was a very positive start. I am through to the second round. That’s a very important thing for me.”
Injury and the birth of her first child, Leo, ensured former world No.1 Victoria Azarenka’s absence from the courts of SW19 the past two years but the Belarusian made a triumphant return on Monday. After a shaky start, Azarenka lifted a gear to deny rising American teenager CiCi Bellis in three sets.
That’s one down, six to go if she is to become the first mother to triumph at Wimbledon since Australian Evonne Goolagong Cawley 37 years ago.
“I’m happy I could turn it around and feel comfortable since I haven’t played in a while. It takes time,” Azarenka said. “I felt better as the match went on … I understand that I need to be patient but the competitor in me wants it to be quick. When you go out there you want to win, that never goes away.”
Not since Justine Henin in 2003 has a first-time Grand Slam champion triumphed in Paris and reached the second week at the following Wimbledon. Jelena Ostapenko took the first step in avoiding the first-week fate of Garbine Muguruza (second round last year), Li Na (second round 2011), Francesca Schiavone (first round 2010), Ana Ivanovic (third round 2008) and Anastasia Myskina (third round 2004) with her round 1 victory.
“I’m a Grand Slam champion now so people expect more from me.” It’s the phrase Ostapenko reeled off on the eve of her 2017 Wimbledon campaign and a fitting insight into why the dreaded post-French Open lull has cursed so many first-time champions before her.
Fortunately for the 20-year-old Latvian she was able to overcome a second-set blip and fading light to see off Aliaksandra Sasnovich in three sets in her first match since that remarkable triumph at Roland Garros last month.
Wimbledon welcomed back Petra Kvitova with a Centre Court billing, and the two-time former champion repaid the honour in abundance. The Czech ended her match in dazzling form against Sweden’s Johanna Larsson, the latest sign that her comeback has peaked just in time for The Championships, little more than six months after she was stabbed in the hand by an intruder at her home.
“It was my motivation to come back and play at Wimbledon, and I’m happy that my dream came true,” Kvitova told the BBC, revealing an abdominal injury has hampered her preparations. “I’m still missing matches – it’s training you can’t get through training alone. You just need to play as many matches as you can. I feel now pain but missed a few days of practice. I hope with more matches I will be better and better.”
And it isn’t Wimbledon without a rain delay…
Allis Moss, better known as The Voice of Wimbledon, could be in for a busy week if current forecasts are to be believed. Formerly the voice of the BBC’s Shipping Forecast, she was once again announcing weather updates for the masses at the All England Club on Monday afternoon as a light and thankfully brief shower coaxed the grounds staff out to cover the courts shortly before 3pm.
There was no doubt a sense of déjà vu for Venus Williams, who was forced off court on match point in her third-round showdown with Daria Kasatkina a year ago. The 36-year-old, who made her Wimbledon debut 20 years ago, had just seen match point come and go against Elise Mertens when the rain came. Fortunately the delay only kept the five-time former champion from victory for a mere half-hour before she booked her spot in the second round.
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