Get your mitts off
It’s the man versus the mind whenever the enigmatic Ernests Gulbis takes the court. And then there’s his opponent. The Latvian, who used to ridicule his own grass court prowess until seeing off Juan Martin del Potro en route to the third round last year, was in all sorts of bother from the outset when he was broken to love in the opening game of his match against British wild card Jay Clarke on Tuesday. Gulbis ultimately prevailed 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(3), 3-6, 6-4 on Court 18, but there was no greater talking point than that first change of ends. Frustrated at the love break, Gulbis trudged to the chair and opened the water bottle, only for Clarke to inform him he was standing at his chair. “I tried to joke, you know this panic joke, when you’re nervous and you don’t know what to do,” Gulbis said of the embarrassment. Clarke saw the funny side of it, even in defeat. “He was pretty out of it at the start of the match, I think,” Clarke said. “I don't know what he was thinking, to be honest.”
Top 10 seeds continue to crumble
Belinda Bencic continues her giant-slaying run in the first round of the Grand Slams in 2018 in her gradual climb back from injury. After dumping Venus Williams out at the first hurdle at the Australian Open in January, the 21-year-old added French No.6 seed Caroline Garcia to her list on Tuesday. It was a tough ask for Garcia facing the Wimbledon 2012 girls’ singles champion first up, a player ranked in the top 10 only two years ago. “Every time I come here, I'm excited and amazed like the first time I was here, so I hope that feeling never goes away,” Bencic said. “I don't think it ever gets old here.” Garcia joined two-time champion, No.8 seed Petra Kvitova as a first round casualty on Day 2. The men, too, lost a pair of top 10 ranked names with Roland-Garros finalist Dominic Thiem and Belgian David Goffin crashing out. Thiem retired with an apparent back injury with 2006 Wimbledon semi-finalist Marcos Baghdatis leading 6-4, 7-5, 2-0, while Australian Matt Ebden saw off No.10 seed Goffin in straight sets for his first over a top 10 opponent at a Grand Slam. Seven Australians advanced to the second round.
Brought that on yourself
One of the feel-good stories to emerge from Qualifying at Roehampton last week was that of injury-plagued Christian Harrison winning through to his second Grand Slam main draw. The younger brother of world No.59 Ryan Harrison was locked in battle at a set apiece with good friend and No.24 seed Kei Nishikori, on Court 14 in his Wimbledon main draw debut on Tuesday. Serving to stay in the third set at 5-6, however, the American – fuming at a shot he missed – smacked himself in the knee with his racket. This from a player who’d bounced back from seven surgeries already. Nevertheless, a quick call to the trainer for a medical time-out to have his knee taped and he was back in action. Nishikori ended up finishing him off 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-2. “I see him all the time with injuries. It's kind of similar to me. More than me,” Nishikori said of facing his friend. “He's having really tough time. Happy to see him in main draw here… Hope he can keep going. I'm sure he's going to break top 100 soon.”
Mixed day for the Zverevs
After 30-year-old Mischa Zverev broke through to clinch his maiden tour title in Eastbourne at the weekend, he and Alexander Zverev became the first brothers to win a singles title in the same season since 1989. It came after Alexander had shaken that long-lingering monkey from his back to reach a Grand Slam quarter-final for the first time in Paris last month. Plenty to cheer about in the Zverev camp heading into Wimbledon. Unfortunately, on Tuesday, that would be short-lived for Mischa, beaten soundly in his opening match against fellow serve-volleying expert, Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert. No such troubles for little brother, Sascha. The No.4 seed eked out a tight first set before running away with a 7-5, 6-2, 6-0 result over James Duckworth, the Aussie world No.748 making his return from foot surgery. Zverev dropped just 10 points on serve and never faced a break point. In a battle of the 1997 babies, American Taylor Fritz is up next.
Quote of the day
“Originally when I heard the sound, I thought it hit the scoreboard. Then I realised it was her arm. It was tough. She started crying. It was tough. She took it like a champ, though. I would have been crying, for sure,” an apologetic Nick Kyrgios after one of his serves accidentally hit one of the ball girls.
