Aurélie SACCHELLI, Media365, published on Monday, June 28, 2021 at 11:04 p.m.
For his entry into the running at Wimbledon, the winner of the last edition Novak Djokovic won in four sets against Jack Draper. It also goes for Andrey Rublev and Andy Murray. On the other hand, Stefanos Tsitsipas fell in straight sets against Frances Tiafoe, and Jannik Sinner lost to Marton Fucsovics.
First sensation at Wimbledon! From the second match of the men’s program, the table experienced an earthquake with the elimination of the world No. 4 and seeded No. 3, Stefanos Tsitsipas. The Greek, finalist of Roland-Garros where he led two sets to zero against Novak Djokovic, then touched by the death of his grandmother just before this final, arrived in London without the slightest match on grass in his legs, and this was seen against Frances Tiafoe. The American, 57th in the world, won 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 in 2:04 against the 22-year-old, who had played the round of 16 at Wimbledon in 2018. In particular, Tiafoe was extremely solid on serve, serving 7 aces and saving the 7 break points that the Greek got. Despite the 15 aces and 35 winning shots (for 22 unforced errors) made by Tsitsipas, he broke it from the start of the match, then at 4-4 in the second set and at 0-0 and 5-3 in the third . It is therefore he who will face Vasek Pospisil, while Tsitsipas will now focus on the Olympic Games after a Grand Slam to forget.
Djokovic in diesel mode
He had managed to win Roland Garros by winning two matches after being led two sets to zero (against Musetti in the eighth and against Tsitsipas in the final). Novak Djokovic dropped another set on his way to entering the tournament at Wimbledon, but he ended up winning in four sets against Britain’s Jack Draper, invited by the organizers, to sign his twelfth victory in a row. The world No. 1 won 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 in 2:01 against the 253th.Novak Djokovic had only played three matches on turf before landing in London last week in Mallorca in doubles, and he struggled to get his bearings in the first set, breaking at 1-1, all missing seven break points in total in this round. It was therefore Draper who pocketed the first set. But the world No. 1 did not gamberg for long. He left only five games to his opponent in the next three sets, serving 20 aces and having only one break point to defend, despite already leading 4-1 in the last set. With 46 winning strokes for 24 unforced errors (26-27 for Draper), Novak Djokovic still convinced for his entry into the running despite the loss of a set. But beware of the trap in the next round, where he will challenge the one he beat in the 2018 final, Kevin Anderson, who served 41 aces to dominate Barrios in four sets.
Murray still there!
Falling back to 118th place in the world but invited by the organizers, Andy Murray won his first singles match at Wimbledon for 1448 days! The Scotsman, who received a standing ovation when he entered the court, defeated Nikoloz Basilashvili (28th) with a score of 6-4, 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 in 3:15. Author of 17 aces, Murray won the first by breaking at 5-4 on his first opportunity, then the second by breaking at 4-3. In the third, the former world No.1 thought he had done the hard part by leading 5-0, but he completely lost track, missed two match points at 5-3 and ultimately lost the set 7-5 . He took advantage of the roof closing at the end of the third set to regain his spirits in the locker room and managed two breaks on his opponent’s first two serves in the fourth set to win a little later. Next opponent: Oscar Otte or Arthur Rinderknech.
Rublev, Bautista Agut and Khachanov in four innings
It also goes in four sets for two players classified by the top ten seeds: Andrey Rublev and Roberto Bautista Agut. The Russian (no.5) defeated Federico Delbonis by the score of 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 in 2:16. He lost the first set then was hung up 2-2 in the second, before unrolling his tennis. The Spaniard (n ° 8) spent 3 hours on the court to get rid of John Millman: 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6. “RBA” got scared in the fourth set, where he trailed 4-2, before coming back. No. 25 seed Karen Khachanov also qualified in four sets against US qualifier Mackenzie McDonald: 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 serving 15 aces and after being broken from start of the fourth round.
Sinner and Davidovich Fokina less successful on grass
Brilliant on clay, Jannik Sinner and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, respectively No. 19 and 30 seeded respectively, have more difficulty on grass and both disappeared in the first round. The Italian was eliminated 5-7, 6-3, 7-5, 6-3 by the Hungarian Marton Fucsovics, in a match where he had 19 break points to defend (only 10 saved). The Spaniard, weighed down by his 12 double faults, battled for five sets and 3:17 of play against Denis Kudla (114th), leading two sets to zero before losing 5-7, 4-6, 7 -6, 6-3, 6-3. He was three points from the win when he led 4-2 in the third-set tie-break, but lost five points in a row and then collapsed. Another seed was eliminated, in the person of Reilly Opelka (n ° 27), who fell in three sets against Dominik Koepfer (6-4, 7-6, 6-2) despite 19 aces.
