Wimbledon Tennis 2011 Schedule: 10 Key Storylines to Watch Monday
It's Day 1 today at Wimbledon – the grass is fresh, the players are fresh, the tournament is fresh. Who will 2011 see crowned as the lord and lady of SW19? It all begins now.
Rafael Nadal will be up in the first match on centre court, along with five-time champion Venus Williams. 2010’s losing finalists, Tomas Berdych and Vera Zvonereva, will also be making their first steps towards a much desired rectification of last year’s results.
Andy Murray too, seeded to face Nadal in the semis, will be hoping to stay true to his words – "I look no further than the first round."
In any other sense, this is the first round of this glorious green grand slam, where what ought to happen probably will happen, but where the inconceivable may equally well transpire. Last year, Roger Federer was nearly bounded out in the first round in a tremendous series of events; is anything so dramatic likely to repeat itself today?
Here are the top ten matches of Day 1, with the bold, the brave, and the blasts.
Rafael Nadal vs Michael Russell
1 of 10
This match will be interesting, with no disrespect to Michael Russell – who while in his 30's did once hold a match point against Gustavo Kuerten at Roland Garros – mainly for the fact that Nadal will be returning as the defending champion for the first time, to actually defend his title (the last time he came back in 2009 he had to announce a disappointing retirement from the tournament).
Will the pressure get to him? Likely not; but the novelty of not seeing Roger Federer begin proceedings at the All-England Club for the first time in nine years will be there.
Fiipo Volandri vs Tomas Berdych
2 of 10
Much the same might be said for Tomas Berdych in the pressure department: a player who is notorious for backing up great results one year with a horrendous first-round upset in the next. Might the same happen again this time, or are his memories of last year’s triumphs going to be strong enough to pull him through to another career-defining run?
One thing is for certain – it will be his to lose. Filipo Volandri possesses neither lawn tennis know-how nor anything of a serve.
Andy Murray vs Daniel Gimeno-Traver
3 of 10
In a day spent introducing the first half of Wimbledon 2011’s stellar cast, we could hardly miss out Andy Murray.
Is he really Great Britain’s great thing? We have been discussing that for some time now. But this 2011 grass court season seems to be aligning awfully well for him, with a win at Queens already earlier last week. It would be interesting nonetheless to see how local favouritism, for yet another year, bears on his shoulders once again.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
Radek Stepanek vs Fernando Verdasco
4 of 10
With so many matches in the first round, there are bound to be some worthy of finals elsewhere. In Radek Stepnake’s clash with Fernando Verdasco, there are the intimations of a tightly-contested epic.
Stepanek may be getting on in years, but his game is well-suited to grass, with the versatility that could trouble Verdasco, studded by his ranking alone. Stepanek, moreover, has had the Spaniard’s number in their last three encounters. An engrossing upset or a hard-fought win for Verdasco seems in the making.
Andreas Beck vs Andy Roddick
5 of 10
Roddick had said after his 6-1, 6-3 drubbing at the hands of Andy Murray at Queens that the result would hardly affect his chances at Wimbledon. Which is all well and said by a three-time finalist, but our first clues as to his true meaning will be found against Andreas Beck today.
The German isn’t just some journeyman push-pver – there is some dangerous serving there, which could be disturbing on grass for Roddick’s first round at Wimbledon. It would be a mighty sight, nonetheless, to behold the thunderous delivery of A-Rod, at this tournament once again.
Francesca Schiavone vs Jelena Dokic
6 of 10
Jelena Dokic once proved a revelation to women’s tennis and was no more so than in 1999, when she trounced the then world number one Martina Hingis in this very round, at this very tournament, for the loss of just two games.
She is a bit older now and wiser about the world, but Schiavone, whose grass-court record has never been too thrilling, seems to pose an interesting opportunity. Will the Italian French Open champion of last year fall again in the first round? We shall see.
Ivo Karlovic vs Janko Tipsarevic
7 of 10
We all know the subtle advantage that a great serve confers on a player on a grass court, but Ivo Karlovic, a.k.a. Dr. Ace, is a totally different matter. Serving almost out of a tree, the Croat managed, under favourable auspices and draw, to reach the quarterfinals here at Wimbledon by this insane weapon alone.
He plays someone somewhat shorter than the height of his serve at full bounce, Janko Tipsarevic, whose retrieving abilities he will hope will dent the confidence of his tall opponent. Something of a David vs Goliath to watch out for here.
Akgul Amanmuradova vs Venus Williams
8 of 10
Whatever her dismal exit last year to Tsvetana Pironkova may have meant, Venus Williams is still the player on the WTA tour with the greatest haul of Wimbledons, with five in her bag. Injury may have marred her 2011 so far somewhat, but her on the grass she will no doubt soon find her feet again. She just seems that bit taller, prouder, more confident, whenever she plays at the All-England Club.
Nevermind that she’s not on Centre Court; she would be eager to fight her place back onto it. How swiftly she deals with Amanmuradova today will no doubt come in good stead for determining how ready she is to do so.
Ivan Ljubicic vs Marin Cilic
9 of 10
It will never be easy for two fellow-countrymen to play one another, but Day 1 proffers just such an uneasy contest, between Croats Ivan Ljubicic and Marin Cilic. They offer, however, fine tennis too – Ljubicic, who posed an unlikely challenge to Rafael Nadal on his home turf at Paris a few weeks ago, looks re-invigorated over 30, his dangerous serve always a threat on grass.
Cilic, looking for that breakthrough tournament, would be keen on using his own big delivery to full effect too; but these are two terrific tennis talents at heart. Look for out for some fine rallies, and that subtle tension implicit in a clash between the old (Ljubicic) and new (Cilic).
Jelena Jankovic vs Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez
10 of 10
Day 1’s roundup of the Opening Act of Wimbledon’s main cast features Jelena Jankovic up against Martinez-Sanchez. Always an intriguing, proto-Wozniacki type figure, Jankovic, since her big incursion on the tennis scene in 2008, failed to do anything more to back those results up.
Wimbledon, for one thing, has never been favourable to her, but she is a great player and athlete, qualities which ought to reward in some measure on any surface. She, for what she has achieved in the last few years, will be a stud for some time, whatever her record on grass.
Martinez-Sanchez will provide a nice fight, however. An upset in the making it probably isn’t, but a good test it may well be for Jankovic.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
