The opening round of the 2017 Wimbledon Championships saw some of the best do well on their opening rounds while others had their jitters to begin the third of four Grand Slam tournaments at the All England Tennis Club.
World number five Elina Svitolina who has been on a hot streak all season long got through her tough battle of injuries to her foot and too care of business against Ashleigh Barty winning in straight sets, but not without a massive fight from the Australian. She forced the Ukrainian to a 12 game first set before forcing a very thrilling tiebreaker which the 22-year-old held firmly winning 10-8.
Johanna Konta also won in straight sets with being on home turf paying huge dividends facing Su-Wei Hsieh for the fourth time in their careers. The high ranked Brit ran away with the opening set 6-2 and doubled down to pull off the straight sets victory that took 64 minutes to complete.
Some found their opening day to be very long and for returning superstar Victoria Azarenka; it was nothing short of a challenge. She had her first meeting with American teen Catherine Bellis who she watched take off with the opening set 6-3. The former number one rallied from the opening serve in the second and never looked back for the 40th ranked star. It was nearly a clean sweep for the Belorussian, allowing three games in the final two sets to win 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 indicating her focus on grass courts since making her return was the smartest choice to get out from her rank of 683 and rejoin her true place in the WTA rankings.
Eugenie Bouchard wished she had the momentum Azarenka brought to Wimbledon but her efforts were silenced in a very lopsided opening round match. The 23-year-old faced Spanish star Carla Suarez-Navarro who had a struggling opening set giving the Canadian her time in the light with a 6-1 first set. The world number 61 looked to have her game on lock, but Suarez-Navarro woke up her inner strength and went on a tear. She took Bouchard for a brutal ride that ended in a 6-1, 6-1 score to complete three sets.
Another player who hasn’t had the best season is Alize Cornet who lost her fourth straight match since the French Open. The 27-year-old gave it everything she had but her frustrations once again got the best of her against Camila Giorgi. The Italian rallied from a 5-7 first set to hold Cornet back and win the next two 6-4, 6-4.
Veterans Caroline Wozniacki and Agnieszka Radwanska are no less familiar to the importance of getting a good footing at the All England Club. The embarrassment of losing your first round is worst in a grand slam. The Polish ranked tenth handled her 11th meeting against Jelena Jankovic in stride despite having to play a tiebreaker in the opening set.
Radwanska opened the gap after a three all tie and took the set 7-3 in one hour and five minutes. With the Serb very much fatigued from the fight, she lost the energy to keep up with the ninth seed and watched her tournament come to an end with a shutout in the second set. It was a speedy victory for Radwanska who took just 20 minutes in the set to clear her way to the second round.
Wozniacki wasn’t as fortunate to complete the straight sets wish all players want but her efforts counted well against Timea Babos. She opened the set with a fight against the Dane but lost 6-4 before putting together a response that got Wozniacki’s notice. The Hungarian pulled off a strong 6-4 score against the former number one that put the third set into action and a small thought into the head of the 26-year-old of her first round exit last year. She knew that a repeat was not in the cards and proved it by launching a barrage of winners to knock down the adversity with a 6-1 run in the third.
Garbine Muguruza’s choice to prepare for her tournament at Wimbledon was a brilliant choice to settle from the earlier WTA premiers. It paid off Tuesday in her first rounder against Ekaterina Alexandrova who had never faced the world number 15 before. She was in for a tough day on the grass as the Spaniard took off with a 6-2 victory. The Russian offered a challenge to Muguruza but the veteran in her fifth appearance in the tournament left little to be hoped for the 22-year-old. She fell 4-6 giving the Spaniard straight sets in her wish to overcome her last two early exits.
While the opening round was out of the way for many, the steps for all to attain the Wimbledon dish was only the beginning with weather and the competition playing heavy roles of the next week and a half.
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