ATP
Wimbledon Men’s Day 1
Holder Novak Djokovic won his 29th match in a row at Wimbledon on Monday, with the seven-time winner helping to dry off the Centre Court grass during an opening-day rain interruption.
The second seed pitched in as weather blew in, with officials likely wondering why they did not shut the roof immediately.
Instead, they delayed and paid the price with an interruption of 90 wasted minutes, during which a fidgety Djokovic got to work with a towel in hopes of getting back on court as soon as possible for what ended as a 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (4) defeat of Argentine Pedro Cachin.
“It was frustrating for the crowd waiting for us (to resume),” the winner said. “We both wanted to play but it was a bit too slippery.
“But once the roof was opened, we were out there.”
No. 68 Cachin saved three match points before Djokovic – bidding for his fifth consecutive trophy here – finished off the afternoon after nearly four hours on and off court to reach the second round.
He improved to 87-10 at the tournament.
Djokovic came to the major without any official tournament preparation on grass – his usual scenario.
“The opening match is always a bit tricky, especially since I had no lead-up event.
“Grass is quite different in terms of movement, style and tactics. It takes more time to adjust than on any other surface
“But there is no reason I can’t (make the transition) again.
“I’m going match by match; I hope the level of tennis will elevate.”
Clay-centric Casper Ruud, seeded fourth, duplicated his career best Wimbledon showing by winning the first round 6-1, 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 over French qualifier Laurent Lokoli.
The outsider put up a fight as he won the second set but was eventually double-faulted to lose to the steady Norwegian who has played finals at three of the last five Grand Slams.
“I take every match as an underdog here, I don’t have the perfect game for grass,” Ruud said.
“Today I played quite well, but there are many more players ahead of me who are favourites.
“I’ll just try to play loose and without pressure. I want to enjoy it every time I step onto court.”
Seventh seed Andrey Rublev became the first man through to the second round with his defeat of 2022 double winner Max Purcell 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 in 93 minutes.
Rublev, who was unable to compete here in 2022 due to the ban on Russian players, is glad to be back.
“Obviously I feel really happy to be back; in general I haven;t played much Wimbledon… I was injured or it was pandemic or then they banned us.
“Of course I feel really special and really happy to be back in London to play at one of the best tournaments and to get a win today was a nice moment.”
He advanced with 27 winners and five breaks of serve as he won his 11th straight opening match this season..
Italian 14th seed Lorenzo Musetti ended a run of two straight losses in the first round here as he defeated Juan Pablo Varillas of Peru 6-3, 6-1, 7-5, making his point with 33 winners.
Jordan Thompson will next face Djokovic after spending three and a half hours battling Brandon Nakishima of the US, with the Australian coming from two sets to love down for a 2-6, 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-3 result.
econd seed pitched in as weather blew in, with officials likely wondering why they did not shut the roof immediately.
Instead, they delayed and paid the price with an interruption of 90 wasted minutes, during which a fidgety Djokovic got to work with a towel in hopes of getting back on court as soon as possible for what ended as a 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (4) defeat of Argentine Pedro Cashin.
“It was frustrating for the crowd waiting for us (to resume),” the winner said. “We both wanted to play but it was a bit too slippery.
“But once the roof was opened, we were out there.”
No. 68 Cachin saved three match points before Djokovic – bidding for his fifth consecutive trophy here – finished off the afternoon after nearly four hours on and off court to reach the second round.
He improved to 87-10 at the tournament.
Djokovic came to the major without any official tournament preparation on grass – his usual scenario.
“The opening match is always a bit tricky, especially since I had no lead-up event.
“Grass is quite different in terms of movement, style and tactics. It takes more time to adjust than on any other surface
“But there is no reason I can’t (make the transition) again.
“I’m going match by match; I hope the level of tennis will elevate.”
Clay-centric Casper Ruud, seeded fourth, duplicated his career best Wimbledon showing by winning the first round 6-1, 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 over French qualifier Laurent Lokoli.
The outsider put up a fight as he won the second set but was eventually double-faulted to lose to the steady Norwegian who has played finals at three of the last five Grand Slams.
“I take every match as an underdog here, I don’t have the perfect game for grass,” Ruud said.
“Today I played quite well, but there are many more players ahead of me who are favourites.
“I’ll just try to play loose and without pressure. I want to enjoy it every time I step onto court.”
Seventh seed Andrey Rublev became the first man through to the second round with his defeat of 2022 double winner Max Purcell 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 in 93 minutes.
Rublev, who was unable to compete here in 2022 due to the ban on Russian players, is glad to be back.
“Obviously I feel really happy to be back; in general I haven;t played much Wimbledon… I was injured or it was pandemic or then they banned us.
“Of course I feel really special and really happy to be back in London to play at
one of the best tournaments and. To get a win today was a nice moment.”
He advanced with 27 winners and five breaks of serve as he won his 11th straight opening match this season..
Italian 14th seed Lorenzo Musetti ended a run of two straight losses in the first round here as he defeated Juan Pablo Varillas of Peru 6-3, 6-1, 7-5, making his point with 33 winners.
Jordan Thompson will next face Djokovic after spending three and a half hours battling Brandon Nakishima of the US, with the Australian coming from two sets to love down for a 2-6, 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-3 result.
Main photo:- Novak Djokovic takes a tumble over the net during first round Wimbledon win – by Roger Parker International Sports Fotos Ltd
Two-time champion Casper Ruud had to work for more than two and a half hours to overcome Jaime Faria, the Portuguese who put out Stan Wawrinka in the first round at the Gstaad Swiss Open on Thursday.
Faria was riding the momentum from Tuesday’s defeat of three-time Grand Slam winner Stan Wawrinka, set to retire this season and beaten in an opening match at his home venue.
Faria had his eye on a second upset as he faced Ruud, who lifted the trophy at this elite alpine village in 2021 and 2022.
Ruud ahd to dodge a bullet and mount a comeback to get through the second-round test against the Portuguese.
After dropping the opening set in a tiebreaker, Ruud played patiently as Faria saved five break points in the sixth game of the second set before failing on the sixth.
Ruud then pulled away for a 6-7 (1), 6-4, 6-2 victory, his first since Roland Garros.
“Sometimes it is hard to say when you get a good feeling and you start to win some games in a row,” the winner said.
“You try from the first game to the last, but suddenly something clicked in the middle of the second for me, luckily.”
He added: “I had to really fight hard and if I played one bad game in the second and he serves well, it could be over and it would be time to go home. But luckily I can extend the stay.”
The Scandinavian could join Spaniards Sergi Bruguera and Alex Corretja as three-time winners in the Alps, with Ruud now standing 10-1 here over his career.
Stefanost Tsitsipas said he slept soundly prior to finishing off a darkness-interrupted match on Thursday as he eliminated local Jerome Kym at the Gstaad Swiss Open.
The Greek who once cracked third in the world and the 186th-ranked Swiss returned to the clay after darkness on Wednesday night left them hanging at 5-all in the third set.
Tsitsipas revved up his game from the resumption to emerge into the quarter-finals 6-4, 6-7 (2), 7-6 (5).
The second seed now standing 85th in the world after several poor seasons and a split with his father as his coach, said getting his rest was not a problem after the interruption.
“It was strange going to bed and not being finished. I visualised what I wanted to do, my shot patterns.
“It worked out pretty well.
“I had a good night’s sleep, I was not too stressed and I recovered to get ready for the continuation.”
After saving break points in the first game on Thursday, Tsitsipas triumphed in the final-set tiebreaker
“I’m relieved I was able to save a couple of break points.. I put my game together and made it )victory) happen again.”
The Greek now faces off against Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech for a semi-final spot.
“I’m expecting a lot of big serves, the altitude (1050m) helps. I’ll try to build consistency around my own serve.”
Stefanos Tsitsipas was handed a reprieve due to fading light with his second round match at the Swiss Open Gstaad stopped with the Greek deadlocked with local Jerome Kym 6-4, 6-7 (2), 5-5.
The math had to be halted as night fell and electronic linecalling computers could not read the path of the ball on the clay in contrast to humans who could have carried on for a few additional minutes..
The 27-year-old Tsitsipas was taking the worst of it in the concluding stage after a promising start.against a journeyman opponent ranked 186.
Tsitsipas, his ranking down to 85th after once standing third in the world, lashed out verbally in the last few games, apparently frustrated with his racquet reactions.
The Greek was quick to make his point of an overnight stoppage to the chair umpire while Kym – who reached 5-all with a love service hold – left the court with a defiant fist pump for his public in this alpine resort village.
The cutoff came after just over two hours of play, with the contest to be concluded on Thursday. The winner reaches the Friday quarter-finals.
Tsitsipas produced his last notable result in April with a fourth-round showing at the Madrid Masters,
He is aiming for his second quarter-final of the season after Doha in February and his 2025 Barcelona 15 months ago.
Tsitsipas stands 10-1 vs. players ranked outside the top 100 this season with a sole loss to No. 104 Italian Matteo Arnaldi at the Roland Garros second round.
History repeats for Argentine spoiler in Gstaad
Ruud survives a scare to secure Gstaad quarters
Tsitsipas finishes off Kym after overnight pause
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