The tournament was only a few hours old when the rain came and Novak Djokovic showed himself to the audience in a new role: as a houseman with a mop. Apparently, those responsible on Center Court closed the roof a little too late and had the lawn covered with a tarpaulin. The ground was still damp when the dripping stopped. The seven-time Wimbledon champion from Serbia spontaneously grabbed the towel and helped to pat the straws dry.
However, three employees with a blower were then needed to ban the danger of slipping and to guarantee that the opening match continued properly. After a break of more than an hour, the defending champion resumed the game and defeated his challenger Pedro Cachin from Argentina in three sets 6:3, 6:3, 7:6 (4). On the neighboring square, Court Number One, the roof closed faster. The world number one Iga Swiatek from Poland also lost no time in the 6:1, 6:3 against her first challenger, the Chinese Zhu Lin.
Maximilian Marterer, 28, from Nuremberg secured the first victory for a player from the German delegation in the early evening. His match on an outdoor court against the Croatian Borna Gojo also had to be interrupted. But Marterer kept his concentration during the break and after equalizing the set, in the fourth set he managed a serve break and with the fifth match point he won 7:5, 6:7, (8), 6:3, 6:4. He had already qualified for the Wimbledon tournament last week: “If you have three matches behind you, that always helps,” he found – especially with gusty island winds and unstable weather. “It was disgusting to play today,” agreed Oscar Otte, who soon won the German duel against Dominik Koepfer. The 29-year-old from Cologne won 7: 5, 6: 3, 7: 6 (9). Otte, who had also fought his way into the main draw through qualification, converted his third match point after 2:07 hours. The opening match between Yannick Hanfmann from Karlsruhe and world number ninth Taylor Fritz from the USA had to be stopped because of darkness when the score was 4:6, 6:2, 6:4, 5:7, 2:3. It will continue this Tuesday.
Early end for Anna-Lena Friedsam
The first day of the tournament in London was less pleasant for Anna-Lena Friedsam, 29, from Neuwied, who had to duel with 22-year-old American Alycia Parks for the fourth time in her career and lost for the fourth time. However, Friedsam still competes in doubles with her Egyptian partner Mayar Sherif in Wimbledon. Daniel Altmaier, 24, from Kempen, who recently won the French Open with a win over the top ten player Jannik Sinner, narrowly lost in four contested sets to the Australian Aleksandar Vukic.
As far as the entertainment value of the tournament is concerned, the audience will have to do without the sometimes amazing ball skills of Australian Nick Kyrgios, who was in the final last year but has now canceled his participation at short notice. Kyrgios, who was sidelined for a long time with a knee problem, is now suffering from a hand injury which he did not recover in time. “I just didn’t have enough time to make it to Wimbledon,” he shared.
