Wimbledon; Reggio Emilia (1R) - June 22- July 5 Season I
The Championships
Day One - First Round - Wimbledon
Gentlemen's Singles (
Seeds -
Section 1 -
Section 2 -
Section 3 -
Section 4 -
Section 5 -
Section 6 -
Section 7 -
Section 8)
It was a surpremely successful start to
The Championships for the CWLand competitors as all but two advanced past the round of 128. At the head of that pack was eighteenth seed
Jefferson Drake who began his grass court assault in style with a four-set victory over Russian
Gregor Gorshkov. The world number 78 would have expected more from himself as he came into the match, but was left sorely disappointed as a fiery Drake took the first set to love in very convincing fashion. A stunned Gorshkov could only watch on as the explosive CWLander did all the running in the first; but as one has come to expect from the enigmatic Drake, he blew cold in the second set to allow Gorshkov an avenue back into the match. At 3-4 on service, Drake gave the Russian the slightest opportunity back into the contest with a double fault - Gorshkov clutching it with both hands to claim the sole break of the set. But Drake found his range and rhythm and proceeded to advance to the second round with exciting tennis; setting up a clash with Brazil's
Dênis Rodrigues 6-0, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4.
Twentieth seed
Randy Smeltz has played down his chances of making an impact on grass, but perhaps he is merely trying to fox his opponents after he blitzed Paraguayan
Marcelo Alavos in straight sets. Smeltz, who has sometimes been criticised for not forcing the pace of the match, roared into the contest straight away by taking the opening set in thirty-four minutes. Alavos, who also has little experience on the quicker surface, looked at sea as Smeltz continued to put the ball on a spot in a clinical display. Whilst he may find himself wanting against higher quality opposition, Smeltz's
6-1, 6-2, 6-2 thrashing is certainly promising ahead of a very winnable second round clash with Spain's
Ion Andueza who bundled out local hope
Oscar Highsmith in three.
In the same section,
Jojo Mustard put aside all fears over his draw to crush unseeded Norwegian
Haiku Morkel. Mustard's aggressive game exposed some of the flaws in that of Morkel; namely a lack of pace and an inability to penetrate on the backhand side. Mustard exploited this constantly as Morkel continued to thunder down the unforced errors; Mustard also contributing his fair share of winners as he dominated from both the baseline and at the net. Morkel showed some fight in the first two sets, but eventually seemed to give up in the decider as Mustard claimed five games on the trot to advance
6-4, 6-4, 6-1. The 30th seed now looks ahead to his clash with Croatia's
Nilikar Midid on Wednesday; Midid was in dominant form as he disposed of South African qualifier
Ryan Miller earlier in the day.
In perhaps one of the upsets of the round, CWLand wildcard
Alex de Wet earned a second round berth after a sensational victory over Russian
Oleg Puder. In an uncharacteristically restrained performance, the controversial CWLander put it all on the table in a push for the top hundred as he dominated the Russian workhorse in the opening two sets. The aggressive wildcard refused to add any sort of subtlty to his game, and that move paid off as Puder was forced to reach for shots which would eventually fall well short of the net. The de Wet of old did, however, seem to shine through in the third as a contentious line call following the use of all three referals had him in a verbal altercation with the linesman. But after recovering from a break and four set points down, the world's number 122 regained his composure to dominate the tiebreaker en route to a
6-2, 6-1, 7-6(0) win. He will, however, have his work cut out for him in the second round as 22nd seed
David Champion awaits. The Australian left-hander put his best foot forward in an easy warmup; the 22nd seed barely breaking a sweat as he cruised past
Henrik Henrikkson to secure a
6-2, 6-0, 6-4 win.
Also joining de Wet in the second round is qualifier
Jarko Maxum who produced the biggest and the best win of his career against Israel's
Tal Cohen. Cohen, who last week upset
Becker Haas in Eastbourne, had every right to feel confident against the world number 142 who had yet to produce a victory on the international circuit. But that all changed as Maxum came out looking his best, and Cohen looking lacklustre and disinterested as he spent the majority of the two hours on court battling with his own unforced errors. That is not to take anything away from Maxum, though, who played solid and economical tennis to take advantage of his beseiged opponent on route to a fantastic
6-1, 6-3, 6-1 upset. His second round opponent will be
Miroslav Brdar; the eleventh seed only dropping one set in his tight victory over Russian
Dmitry Orlov.
In the choke of the day,
Spas Delev frustratingly gave up a two sets to love lead against
Tu Haifeng to crash out in a five-set affair on an outside court. Delev, who many say was given a fortuitous draw, started promisingly against the Chinese Taipei player as he produced solid-yet-unspectacular tennis to claim the first two sets thanks to handy breaks of service. But in a contest between two similarly matched players, Delev was soon on the receiving end of a break of service as Tu surged to a 3-0 lead early in the third. That 3-0 lead turned into a set for the world number 101 who grew in confidence as the match went on. On the other hand, Delev seemed to be struggling with his game, and an errant backhand into the crowd handed Tu yet another early break. From there it was all over as Delev managed just three more games en route to a heartbreaking
3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 defeat. Delev's defeat was compounded by the fact that his second round opponent would not be
Tiago Matias as expected, but Aussie
Toby Brookes who upset the thirteenth seed in four sets.
Delev was not the only player to give up a two set lead, as Austria's
Zbiginiew Boniek failed to capitalise on his quarterfinal appearance in 's-Hertogenbosch last week as he fell to
Ninteh Doh in five. The Japanese veteran looked ordinary to start with, but slowly clawed his way back into the contest to surprisingly send the match to a fifth. It was there that he got the better of the Austrian to seal a
6-7(4), 3-6, 6-2, 6-4, 8-6 win. Watching from the sidelines was former doubles partner
Rob Bowenburg who will be disappointed he could not progress past the first round. Given a tough assignment first up, Bowenburg started well against red-hot Frenchman
Jean-Alain Depuis, and even went up a break early. But Depuis broke back immediately and manouevred his way to another three break points in the final game of the first set as he took the opening lead. But the entertaining Bowenburg hit back well, and levelled the match at a set each as he showed his newfound confidence gained last week in 's-Hertogenbosch. But the confidence soon dwindled as he again gave up a break of service to the dogged Frenchman; the 36-year old veteran producing a hound-like tiebreaker to edge ahead two sets to one. Bowenburg would have thought he should have clinched the match by now, and as such seemed to lose focus; Depuis pouncing and setting up a clash with
Jason Bradley thanks to a
7-5, 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-3 win.
In other matches, all seeds bar Matias made it through to the second round, though some did it easier than others. Fifth seed
Radek Špidla was on court for only forty-five minutes before Spain's
Sergio Joaquin retired with an ankle injury. Joaquin rolled his ankle late in the first set, and after calling the trainer attempted to play on. That wasn't going to happen for him, though, as he was forced to concede the match two games into the second set to give Špidla a free pass into the second round. Top seed
Daniel Páez Blanco also made a winning start to his campaign with a four set win over world number 36
Wayne Boyd. Handed one of the toughest draws around, the world number one played his most convincing match on grass this season to advance to the second round
6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. In the pick of Wednesday's action, the top seed squares off with Frenchman
Patrick Pascaul who lost concentration for a set against Morocco's
Ross Onwye, before securing an emphatic
6-0, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 win to set up a blockbuster clash.
- Seeded players out: Tiago Matias.
