No. 16 seed Borna Coric was unable to repeat his excellent play from Halle two weeks ago, falling to fellow “Next Gen” player Daniil Medvedev 7-6, 6-2, 6-2 in the first round on Wimbledon.
The two hour, two minute affair made Coric the highest men’s seed to be felled on the opening afternoon in London.
The 22-year-old Russian battled Coric to the opening tiebreak, breaking back after falling behind and saving further break points. The Croatian failed to take advantage of a set point, then began to crumble: Medvedev converted his first set point, Coric dropped his serve on consecutive occasions in the second set — saving just one of three break points in that stretch — and Medvedev held to love to take a two-set lead. He needed only an even half hour to cement that advantage.
Coric, who beat Roger Federer to win the title in Halle and could have faced him again in the fourth round, started the third set even more poorly. He slammed a forehand well wide on break point in the first game, then called for a trainer two games later for a left foot injury. He continued to fade, losing serve again in a match where he won just 60 percent of points on his serve.
Medvedev, who has matched his second round Wimbledon performance from last year, put fewer than half of first serves in play but smashed 30 winners to 15 unforced errors. Coric, for his part, had 30 unforced errors and 29 winners.
Also Monday, No. 32 seed Leonardo Mayer lost a two-set to none lead against Jan-Lennard Struff. The 3-6, 6-7, 7-6, 7-6, 6-1 victory for the German eliminated Federer’s potential first seeded opponent. Struff won a match on grass for the first time this year after a pair of first round losses.
Most other favorites advanced without ease. No. 11 seed Sam Querrey rolled past Jordan Thompson 6-2, 6-4, 6-3 in barely over an hour and a half, aided by 15 aces and 38 winners — exactly twice as many as his Australian opponent. He swatted away all four break points he faced.
Milos Raonic, seeded 13th, needed only a minute more to breeze past British wild card Liam Broady 7-5, 6-0, 6-1. After a 5-5 deadlock in the first set, the Canadian won an astounding 11 straight games. Raonic had 45 winners; Broady had nine and won just 14 total points on the victor’s serve.
No. 17 seed Lucas Pouille needed four sets to see off Denis Kudla, while Philipp Kohlschreiber, the No. 25 seed, dispatched veteran Russian Evgeny Donskoy in just over two hours.
