A report of some of the happenings on the first day of Wimbledon Qualifying, featuring Men's first round action as 128 was whittled down to 64.
I started my day watching the early matches on Court 10 and 9 (chosen partly as I wanted to see how Darcis would do but also because the mini hill by Court 10 gives a full view of Courts 1-9 making it a perfect viewpoint on a busy day of action).
Steve Darcis d Illya Marchenko 7-5 6-3
12 months on from his famous victory over Nadal at Wimbledon 2013, Darcis returned to Wimbledon but this time to the relative anonymity of the Qualifying courts at Roehampton. Still this match attracted quite a decent crowd, with people keen to see if he could recapture some of that form. He had a little wobble after leading 5-2* in 1st set, which can be put down to rust and lack of match play but Darcis looked comfortable enough and ready to hopefully do some more damage on his comeback.
Daniel Brands during his defeat of Grega Zemlja 6-4 4-6 6-0 on adjacent court 9
Pierre-Hugues Herbert [19] d Borna Coric 7-6(5) 6-1
Andi Beck d Chase Buchanan 6-4 7-6 (4)
Court 14 Hill Court 1
(Gicquel d Rice 6-7 (5) 6-1 6-2- in background while watching Darcis' and Beck matches)
Ricardas Berankis [21] d Alex Ward 6-3 6-4- From the parts I saw, Ricka was just too good for the Brit, without needing to be impressive. Solid progress.
Rajeev Ram [31] d Ilija Bozoljac 6-4 6-4
Watched 1st set before wandering. Bozoljac with great shots- highlight reel running BHDTL pass- but no consistency. Ram played his classic game- coming to the net when he could with good effect. A solid performance outdoing a flashy performance.
Court 16 Hill Court 2
Simone Bolelli [13] d Maxime Teixeira 6-3 6-2
Closer and more competitive than the scoreline suggests, Maxime actually gave a very good account of his game with some moments of nice variety and dropshots. He lived well with Simone in the rallies in the early stages, just getting slightly out maneuvered particularly on the BH side and growing increasingly frustrated as the match wore on. Teixeira gave a continued great effort, which included a crowd pleasing lunge dive volley in my point of the day, yet had to acknowledge that Bolelli was simply too strong.
Oliver Golding d Peter Gojowczyk [8] 6-4 6-1
Initially this match was going the expected way, with Gojo getting an early break after a shaky start from the Brit who handed his serve over with a series of UEs and DFs. We'll blame his sudden nosebleed for that. However once Golding got into his serving rhythm, this turned into a much more competitive first set, which the Brit edged. In the second Gojo showed an impressive lack of will to fight and offered little in what turned out to be a comfortable and surprising win for Golding. It was interesting how Gojo's coach offered him plenty of encouragement and clapped his support throughout the first set, yet became unvocal and a bit disinterested when he truly needed the support. Overall though Golding has really looked well suited to the grass and I hope he can progress further into the tournament (a winnable match vs Chiudinelli next on his weakest surface).
David Rice/Sean Thornley d Pierre-Hugues Herbert/Adil Shamasdin [7]
Watched some of this not very high-intensity encounter, which was played in cold, slow conditions, making for some not very exciting tennis. The British pair ended up edging out their opposition but Herbert still has plenty to play for in the Singles competition.
Court 15
Luke Saville d Thomaz Bellucci [1] 6-4 6-7(4) 6-1
A good win from the player producing superior grass court play over the top seed. The 2011 Wimbledon Boys Champion put up a convincing performance (although he probably should have won in straights) as Bellucci tried to adapt his booming FH and clay suited groundstrokes to the lawns of Roehampton. It can be said that Saville outsmarted him on many occassions and certainly mixed up his game more. Enjoyable match to end my day, despite the increasingly gloomy and cold weather at Roehampton.
Hope to be back on Thursday for the final round of Men and Women's qualifying.
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