To see the Men’s Day 1 recap, click here.
The greatest tournament in tennis got off to a relatively calm start as big names (Serena, Azarenka, Sharapova, Venus) advanced with little to no trouble, young stars struggled through (Pliskova, Bencic), seeded players fell (Suarez Navarro, Pennetta) and a Latvian teenager announced herself (Ostapenko).
A Drama-Free Day to Start The Championships: Women’s Day 1 Recap
Who looked good:
Jelena Ostapenko (defeated #9 Suarez Navarro 6-2 6-0): A year ago, Jelena Ostapenko won the Wimbledon Junior Girls’ with a 6-0 final set over Kristina Schmiedlova.
Now, she’s dishing out bagels to Top 10 players.
The Latvian overwhelmed 9th seed Carla Suarez Navarro 6-2 6-0 in her maiden Grand Slam match at the senior level. The 147th-ranked teenager fired 30 winners past the stunned Spaniard, while the Miami and Rome finalist could muster just 1. Suarez Navarro held serve just once in the entire match which came in the fifth game of the first set. Coincidentally, that would be the last game she won as the 18-year old from Riga reeled off the final 9 games of the match to claim the victory in 52 minutes. Ostapenko only got 50% of her first serves in, but won 91% of those points(20/22). She capitalized on 6 of her 12 break chances while winning all 5 of her attempted points at the net. Next up for Ostapenko is Frenchwoman Kristina Mladenovic in the second round on Wednesday.
Venus Williams (def. Brengle 6-0 6-0): Although she was expected to overpower fellow American Madison Brengle, who was only playing her 2nd career grasscourt match at the main draw level, the 5-time champion was flawless in destroying her countrywoman in 41 minutes.
Maria Sharapova (def. Konta 6-2 6-2): In defeating the improving Johanna Konta, the 2004 champion looked solid. The Russian overcame 7 double faults with 72% points won on her first serve and an impressive 52% on her second serve. A +11 differential in the winners/unforced errors department and it all adds up to a promising start for the #4 seed.
Who looked bad:
Carla Suarez Navarro: Although grass is not the Spaniard’s favorite surface, there is simply no excuse in hitting 1 winner and winning 2 games total against a teenager making her Grand Slam debut.
Shelby Rogers & Madison Brengle: I hate to rub it in, especially when you lose 6-0 6-0, but combined, the two Americans won 39 total points, hit 11 double faults, never had a break point and won 10 (TEN!) points receiving their opponents’ serve. No matter the opponents, that’s about as bad as it gets.
Match of The Day:
6th seed Lucie Safarova def. Alison Riske 3-6 7-5 6-3.
The French Open finalist was in deep trouble, down to the 24-year old American, who served for the match at 6-3 5-4, but a late streak by the Czech lefty saw her capture the 2nd set 7-5. Riske regained her early-match form to go up 2-0 in the 3rd before Safarova ripped off 6 of the final 7 games to take the deciding set 6-3, aided by Riske calling both the doctor and trainer before Safarova’s final push. All in all, a quality affair with two talented grasscourters for the Court 2 fans to enjoy.
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