Federer survives first day scare at Wimbledon

No. 1 seed Roger Federer kicked off Wimbledon day 1 by avoiding a disastrous loss to Alejandro Falla.  Falla, who had never taken a set from Federer, jumped out to take the first two.  Federer responded by taking the third, while Falla took 3 injury treatments.  In the 4th set, Falla broke Federer and had a chance to serve out the match at 5-4.  Federer stepped up as Falla faltered and ultimately took the set to a tiebreak.  Federer dominated the tiebreak to even the match at 2 sets each.  The 5th set was all Federer, as he went on to win without dropping another game. 

Other top seeded men also struggled, Novak Djokovic (3) needed 5 sets to overcome Olivier Rochus in a match that ended later than any in Wimbledon history.  7th seed Nikolay Davydenko also took 5 sets for his victory over Kevin Anderson.  Marin Cilic (11) lost in straight sets to Florian Mayer.

No. 5 Andy Roddick had little trouble defeating Rajeev Ram.  Fellow Americans Mardy Fish and Taylor Dent also advanced.

Women’s French Open champion, Francesca Schiavone (5), was ousted early by unseeded Vera Dushevina in the upset of the day.

No. 2 Venus Williams, No. 4 Jelena Jankovic, No. 8 Kim Clijsters and No 17 Justine Henin all won in straight sets. 

Fan favorite Ana Ivanovic continued her downward spiral, losing to No. 13 Shahar Peer.

Americans Shenay Perry and Melanie Oudin each advanced.

 

Share and Enjoy !

Shares