Wimbledon Tennis 2012: 5 Things We Learned in Week 1

Week one of the Championships at Wimbledon have concluded. They are sealed shut, in the books, finished. 

We are at the beginning of week two now. Everyone wants to focus on what's to come in the next week. 

The truth, though, is that we must go back and identify a few key lessons from week one in order to help us identify some of the trends of this particular tournament in this particular year. 

Then and only then can we properly assess what is most likely to take place in week two. Let's go there now. 

Anyone Can Be Upset at Any Time by Anyone

Before Wimbledon 2012, had you ever heard of Lukas Rosol? How about Elena Vesnina? Sorona Cirstea? Maybe Arantxa Rus? 

Maybe one or two of them you knew, but assuredly you hadn't heard of all of them. If you had, you might be a little obsessed with tennis. Call your doctor or a psychologist or someone who can restore you to balanced health. 

The point is that Rafael Nadal, Venus Williams, Li Na and Sam Stosur all seemed to be players too good to crumble in the second round or earlier at Wimbledon. 

Obviously Rosol's upset of Nadal was the most surprising. It actually qualified him for this list. 

As we continue on into week two, there are number of lesser known players who will be taking on giants of the sport. If nothing else, those giants ought to be prepared for the skills and ambition of the Davids remaining in this tournament. If they're not, they could fall much like Nadal, Venus, Na and Stosur did earlier in week one. 

European and Former USSR Countries Tend to Dominate Wimbledon

Take a look at the gentlemen's bracket for a second. Of the 16 remaining players, two are Americans, one is South American (Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina) and the rest either hail from traditional European countries or countries which formerly belonged to the USSR. 

The story happens to be very similar on the ladies' side of the spectrum. It features one Chinese lady, one American (Serena Williams) and the rest of the group hail from either traditional European countries or former USSR regions. 

There you have it, of the 32 players still battling to win the 2012 Wimbledon singles titles, only five players hail from somewhere not currently considered a part of Europe (though the inclusion of Russia in that number could be a bit tricky and untrue). 

If you would have bet, prior to the tournament, that a winner would come from somewhere outside of Europe, your odds are not looking too good right now. 

A Majority of Winners Have Dominated

While there have been a decent number of matches in which tiebreakers were needed to resolve a set and/or the match, many winners have been won quickly and easily. 

In many ways, Britain's only real hope to win this tournament, Andy Murray has been the epitome of these two extremes. In no match has he gone beyond four sets. But in his second round match against Ivo Karlovic, two of their four sets featured competitive tiebreakers. 

The point that I made with Murray can be applied to just about every other player: matches are competitive, but the player who deserved to win made it clear throughout the entirety of the match. That isn't always the case. 

The ladies' side has been even more succinct as just four of 14 third round matches lasted three sets. And very few of those matchups featured tiebreakers. 

In other words, the winning ladies at Wimbledon don't like to mess around. And the gentleman have followed close in line in the same regard. 

Some Players Coming off Disappointing French Opens Have Responded Well

Of course Victoria Azarenka was the No. 1 player in the world entering last month's French Open championship. She left the Roland Garros No. 2 spot to Maria Sharapova after a disappointing fourth round loss. 

In her three matches thus far at the All England Club, she hasn't lost a set. In fact, she hasn't even really come close. 

Other players, such as Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, could have sulked after coming close but ultimately short at Roland Garros. The same could even be said of Andy Murray. 

Sure each one is a pro who you'd expect to rebound accordingly, but that certainly isn't a given in professional sports. In another individual sport--golf--it is, in fact, quite uncommon. 

Kudos to these particular players for coming back in such a short time and playing close to their A-games early on at Wimbledon when distractions and focus can be two competing extremes. 

Gentlemen's Draw Actually Relatively Devoid of Upsets

Though we've already discussed at length the great upsets the tournament has seen in week one, only one of those came from the gentlemen's draw (granted it was the largest, most important and most shocking).

The reality, though, is that of the top 10 gentlemen's seeds, only two, six and eight are gone. That of course leaves us with one, three, four, five, seven, nine and 10 still in the hunt. 

And of those, only two and six did not win a round. While the ladies have one through four still alive, the remainder of their top 10 is a bit muddled. 

The ladies' draw is a bit more top heavy than the gentlemen's. But each has had some upsets. They just seem to be fewer, but that may be deceptive. 

And that seems to be the grand takeaway thus far at the All England Club. Much of what we think we've learned or hope to have learned is deceptive. Truthfully, I feel no more sure calling a winner for either singles draw today than I did a week ago. 

Isn't that the beauty of the sport? Anything can happen. 

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