At Wimbledon,
Sunny day for the two French women competing today. Diane Parry and Caroline Garcia respectively validated their ticket for the second round against Harriet Dart and Katia Volynets. In a rollercoaster on Monday, Parry, 96th in the world, was able to overthrow the Briton, 135th in the world, in three sets (6-7, 6-0, 6-4). “Remaining calm was the key so that everything did not collapse afterwards”. French number one Caroline Garcia, for her part, did the job against the modest American (6-4, 6-3). And reassured herself physically. She suffers from a shoulder: “It’s getting better and better,” she assured. So far, so good…
Quiet winner of Pedro Cachin in three sets, Djokovic notched a 29th victory in a row at Wimbledon since his defeat in the quarterfinals in 2017. He has since been undefeated with four consecutive titles. Djokovic on all fronts. His first round was interrupted by light rain after only one set. By the time the roof closed, the grass had been slightly wet. Enough to prolong the interruption despite the closed roof. While play resumed much quicker on Court 1, also benefiting from a roof, it took a long time for Djokovic and his opponent to resume play. The Serb, after winning the first set 6–3, wiped some parts of the court himself with his towel. All with a smile and great laughter in the audience. Good humor was also in order when he addressed his clan: “Breath, we need everyone’s help!”
Quiet heartthrob of Australian Max Purcell (6-3, 7-5, 6-4), Andrey Rublev did not use the language of wood when he had to comment on the banishment of Russian and Belarusian players decided by organizers in 2022, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “If we really want to help or do what’s best for tennis and for people, I think there were obviously better options. It is not enough to ban. Because in the end, there is no difference. They only made things worse.” Not sure that the organizers appreciated…
Flops
A short lap and then go for Richard Gasquet, Constant Lestienne and Enzo Couacaud, beaten respectively by another Frenchman, Corentin Moutet, the Briton Liam Broady and the American J.J. Wolf. Gasquet, who fell to 51st place, dominated 6-3, 7-5, 7-5 by Moutet, confirmed his current difficulties. Constant Lestienne, 74th player in the world, existed for one set against Liam Broady (6-1, 6-3, 7-5). Coming from the qualifications, Enzo Couacaud logically gave in against JJ Wolf, 48th player in the world 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (7/4). No exploit either for the other qualified Laurent Lokoli, who did not deserve against Casper Ruud. But the Norwegian, not very fond of grass, enforced the logic of the classification (6-1, 5-7, 6-4, 6-3).
In our columns at the start of the year Félix Auger-Aliassime did not hide his great ambitions for 2023: to seek a Grand Slam. We are far from it seven months later. As at Roland-Garros, the Canadian lost in the first round, ejected by the lucky American loser Michael Mmoh (7/6, 6/7, 7/6, 6/4). A new disappointment for a player physically affected (shoulder, knee) in recent months, but who nevertheless told Tennis Majors a few days before the tournament: “I still have this ambition and this conviction that I have everything I need. to win a tournament like Wimbledon. It failed and failed…
If the answers from the players are not always dazzling, the questions from certain journalists sometimes leave you speechless. Belarusian Victoria Azarenka had to answer a question related to the war in Ukraine. Nothing out of the ordinary so far. More surprising the question of the journalist. “What does Wimbledon mean to Russia? Is it a big event there? “You know I’m not from Russia, right? “, replied the Belarusian player, perplexed. U.S. too.