Tradition decrees that each year, the defending champion opens play at The Championships, but this applies to Centre Court at 1.30pm. In fact, Wimbledon springs to life much earlier on the outside courts where play is called for 11am and Grigor Dimitrov had the honour of recording the first win at this year’s event, out on Court No.2,
I’m cherishing every single match I get out there, whether I’m winning or losing. Losing hurts way more than it used to 10 years ago Grigor Dimitrov
The Bulgarian, seeded 10, defeated Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic 6-3 6-4 7-5 to set up a second-round meeting with China’s Juncheng Shang, a 7-5 6-5 6-4 winner over Chiles’s Cristian Garin as he continues his rejuvenation!
The 33-year-old, who reached the Wimbledon semi-finals ten years ago and peaked at 3 in world ranking terms three years later, looks comfortable on grass and is obviously equally comfortable with his game.
When it was pointed out to him that he was maturing like a good wine, his response was: “I have never tried alcohol so I don’t know., but if you say so I will go with it.
“Lately I’ve been getting that question a lot. I just wanna set the record straight. It’s not a coincidence. I’ve been there before. You put a lot of work throughout the years. You just never know when you might harvest your work,”
And he is certainly reaping the benefit of that work and remains an exciting player to watch and no doubt a dangerous player to play against.
“I’m very grateful where I’m at right now. I’m cherishing every single match I get out there, whether I’m winning or losing. Losing hurts way more than it used to 10 years ago. So I don’t wanna lose. Fighting as much as I can. Doing everything the best I possibly can. I have zero regrets. Whether it’s 33, 35, or 37, who knows if I’m gonna be playing then. If I’m still enjoying it, I’m more than happy to play for myself. But also, for you guys. Thank you so much for supporting me throughout the years.”
However, as he left the court he was seen shaking his right wrist as if he had some problem with it. Hopefully that isn’t the case.
Casper Ruud overcomes his dislike of grass court tennis
(Photo by Francois Nel/Getty Images)
Also through from various outside courts are Casper Ruud and Denis Shapovalov.
The Norwegian Ruud, seeded eight thanks to his world ranking, was in impressive form despite his known dislike of grass court tennis.
He didn’t play a warm-up event so in some respects, it was surprising to see him take out Alex Bolt, an Australian qualifier who is expected to know his way around a grass court. 7-6(2) 6-4 6-4.
The first set was tight, and Ruud only squeezed through on the tie-break but with his confidence growing, he used his solid baseline play to good effect albeit finally struggling to close the match out. Serving for it he saved two break points and finally sealed it on his 7th match point.
Ruud now faces Italy’s flamboyant Fabio Fognini, who defeated Germany’s Dominik Koepfer 6-1 6-3 7-5.
Denis Shapovalov celebrates a positive start to his grass court campaign
(Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
Two-time semi-finalist, Canada’s Denis Shapovalov, was also another impressive winner against 19th seed Chilean Nicolas Jarry, who prior to arriving at SW19, revealed he had been unwell.
Despite the possibility that Jarry was not completely fit, Shapovalov’s greater experience on the grass would have stood in his favour so his 6-1 7-5 6-4 victory wasn’t surprising.
In other early action, Croatia’s Borna Coric took out Felipe Meligeni Alves of Brazil 6-3 7-6(2) 6-3 and Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff prevailed against Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan 6-4 6-7(4) 6-2 6-3.
