The 3rd grand slam of the year, 2019 Wimbledon has seen high profile players in both men and women draw already exited the tournament in the 1st round. Men's draw saw world number 5 and 6 Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas crashed out while women draw saw world number 2 Naomi Osaka and former 7-time grand slam champion Venus Williams hit the exit door.
WOMEN'S DRAW:
Osaka vs Putintseva 6-7(4-7), 2-6
Japanese Jewell Naomi Osaka became the 1st top seed to be knocked out of the All England Lawn Tennis Championships after the world number 2 lost to Kazakhstan's Putintseva in straight sets 6-7(4-7), 2-6. Having only played a single warm-up tournament(Birmingham Classic) prior to Wimbledon, it was evident that the Japanese were lacking in form and confidence, She made an uncharacteristic 38 unforced error in a below-par performance on the day. It's now a back-to-back disappointment for the young Japanese who also exited the French Open in the early stages. Osaka became only the 4th women's top 2 seed to lose her opening match at the SW19. She said in a pre-tournament interview how the pressure of being world number was getting the better of her, it seems the pressure has not really got off her shoulders.
Taking nothing away from her conqueror Yulia Putintseva, she gave a formidable fight. It could be recalled that Putintseva was responsible for Osaka exit at the Birmingham Classic, it seems she has got Osaka figured out.
Venus vs Gauff; 4-6, 4-6
Tagged as the battle between 2 different generations, 39-year-old Venus Williams has already won 4 grand slams before her 15-year-old American opponent Cori 'Coco' Gauff was born. However, the 24-years-age difference did not deter the younger Gauff who put up a fearless display to shock the 7-time grand slam champion in a straight sets 6-4, 6-4 victory.
Coco's rise to the biggest stage of her young career is swift and according to plan. At just 13 years old, she became the youngest player in the 2017 US Open 'girls' single and just a few months after, she was lifting the 2018 French Open 'girl' single defeating her America compatriot Caty McNally in the final. Fast forward to a year after, Gauff is causing one of the biggest upset in grand slam history. She became the youngest player in the Wimbledon main draw since Laura Robson in 2009.
Venus Williams certainly is not the force she uses to command, but losing in the SW19 1st round to an unseeded 15-year-old wasn't on the table either. She made 25 unforced error in the match compared to 8 from her opponent. It was Venus 2nd ever 1st round exit at Wimbledon since 1997 when she made her debut.
MEN'S DRAW:
Zverev vs Vesely 6-4, 3-6, 2-6, 5-7
6th seed Alexander Zverev crashed out of Wimbledon in a disappointing fashion, the 22-year-old German was beaten by an unseeded Czech Jiri Vesely in 4 sets 6-4, 3-6, 2-6 and 5-7. Zverev, who was aiming to break a quarterfinal grand slam hoodoo raced to a 6-4 1st set lead but then, lost the next 3 sets to exit the tournament. It was his 1st ever 1st-round exit at Wimbledon. Zverev was far from his best performance and despite 24 aces, he failed to win 6 of his 7 break points. The emotional Zverev admitted after the match that he was low in confidence.
Kudos to his conqueror Vesely who has now recorded his 3rd ever win against a top 10 ranked player in 16 attempts. Hs will now face Uruguay's Pablo Cuevas Jn the next round.
Tsitsipas vs Fabbiano 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, 6-7(8-10), 6-3
Unseeded Italian Thomas Fabbiano also pulled an upset when he defeated 7th seed Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, 6-7(8-10) and 6-3 in 5 battling sets. The 2 players are no strangers to each other, they played each other in the 3rd round of 2018 Wimbledon and on that occasion, Tsitsipas ran out the winner in just over an hour and a half. However, Fabbiano had his sweet revenge in this year's tournament but he had to dig deep to go past Tsitsipas in a see-saw match in 3hrs 22 min. He will now face Ivo Karlovic of Croatian in the next round.
It just the 2nd day of Wimbledon and we should expect more upsets as more matches currently take place. Thank you for your time.
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