WIMBLEDON: Day Two Talking Points as Rafa Nadal wins but Serena Williams falls agonisingly short - UBITENNIS
Connect with us

Focus

WIMBLEDON: Day Two Talking Points as Rafa Nadal wins but Serena Williams falls agonisingly short

Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams had contrasting results on day two of Wimbledon.

Published

on

Serena Williams (@USTA - Twitter)

Yesterday at SW19 again saw crowds flock to see the world’s most recognised tennis faces.

 

And it did not disappoint.

Contrasting comebacks for the sport’s stars

Two-time champion Rafa Nadal was playing at Wimbledon for the first time in three years.

And the Spaniard showed some majestic touches on his return to the surface.

He stormed into two sets to love lead against Argentina’s Francisco Cerúndolo, 6-4, 6-3.

But the Argentine fought back to take the third 6-3.

The crowd sensing an upset on the cards where cheering every time Nadal staved off some dangerous moments.

In particular, midway through the fourth as Cerúndolo was up 4-3 and had a sniff on the Spanish legend’s serve.

But he came through and went onto break the 23-year-old from Buenos Aires, and made no mistake in serving for the match.

6-4 in the fourth as the 22-time Grand Slam champion breathed a huge sigh of relief.

The win keeps alive his hopes of winning an unprecedented calendar Grand Slam after taking the Australian and French Open titles.

Meanwhile, for Serena Williams it wasn’t to be a fairytale comeback after a year away from the sport.

But she did play very well against an inspired Harmony Tan.

A nervous start saw the American surrender her serve. 

She then come back to lead in the opening set before losing it 7-5.

We then witnessed the Serena of old as she dominated the Frenchwoman to take it 6-1.

The 23-time Grand Slam champion then came out of the blocks fast in the third, forging a 3-1 lead.

But she was pegged back by the plucky Tan and it took some vintage Serena to seize the break, meaning the 40-year-old would serve for the match.

Some loose serves cost her the game and Serena was forced to save a match point as a final set tie-break was the only way to separate the two.

The tennis icon zoomed into a 4-0 lead and looked the likely winner but Tan again fought back with some sublime shots of her own.

In her first match on Centre Court and with such little Grand Slam pedigree, Tan continued to relish the big stage as she saw off some nerves to take the breaker 10-7 and the biggest win of her career.

This was arguably the match of the tournament so far.

Serena can hold her head up high as it was a strong performance and a couple of points here or there and we would have been talking about a stunning win.

Another good day for the Brits

More Brits are through to round two!

Jack Draper continued his impressive form as he saw off Zizou Bergs in straight sets.

The Belgian going down 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4).

And Ryan Peniston, fresh from making the quarter-finals of Queen’s is also through.

He saw off Switzerland’s Henri Laaksonen comfortably 6-4, 6-3, 6-2.

Katie Boulter beat Frenchwoman Clara Burel 7-5, 6-3.

And Heather Watson beat Germany’s Tamara Korpatsch 6-7 (7-9, 7-5, 6-2.

But British number two Dan Evans was left stunned after he lost to Australia’s Jason Kubler in straight sets 6-1, 6-4, 6-3.

Iga breaks Venus’ record

One stat that seemed to fly under the radar with Rafa and Serena taking all the headlines was Poland’s Iga Świątek breaking Venus Williams 35-match unbeaten run.

The pole extended her own streak to 36 with a convincing performance against Croatia’s Jana Fett.

The world number one opening Centre Court in style 6-0, 6-3.

There were also wins for 2019 champion Simona Halep, fifth seed Maria Sakkari, Paula Badosa, Coco Gauff and Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Grigor exits along with Sloane Stephens

Former semi-finalist Grigor Dimitrov was forced to pull out injured after being a set up and 5-2 down in the second set against American Steve Johnson.

Whilst, former US Open champion Sloane Stephens slumped to China’s Qinwen Zheng 7-6 (7-1), 7-5.

And the oldest man in the draw, Feliciano Lopez who in doing so, equalled Roger Federer’s record of 81 main draw appearances at Grand Slams.

But the Spaniard lost in straight sets to Botic van de Zandschulp.

Focus

Nick Kyrgios Opens Up About His Self-Harm Battle And Murray’s Support

Published

on

Nick Kyrgios (AUS) playing against Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN) in the third round of the Gentlemen's Singles on No.1 Court at The Championships 2021. Held at The All England Lawn Tennis Club, Wimbledon. Day 6 Saturday 03/07/2021. Credit: AELTC/Jonathan Nackstrand

Nick Kyrgios says he became addicted to pain during his battle with self-harm that lasted between 18 and 24 months.

 

In an exclusive interview with Piers Morgan Uncensored on TalkTV, the former Wimbledon finalist spoke about his mental health issues. Kyrgios has previously spoken publically about the topic but has now revealed further details about the extent he went through and the role Andy Murray played in supporting him. He was admitted to a psychiatric ward in London and contemplated suicide following the 2019 Wimbledon Championships.

“It was pretty dark to be honest,” Kyrgios told Morgan. “I won tournaments on the professional tour, drinking every night, self-harming, burning things on my arm, cutting myself for fun. It became an addiction of pain. I hated myself. I hated waking up and being Nick Kyrgios.”

One of those who tried to help the Australian address his self-harm problem was three-time Grand Slam champion Murray who noticed cuts on Kyrgios’ arms during one of their practice sessions four years ago. According to The Times, the former world No.1 then alerted Kyrgios’ manager John Morris about the cuts.

Paying tribute to the Brit, Kyrgios says Murray has supported him throughout his career. The 28-year-old has been ranked as high as 13th in the world and has won seven ATP titles. Besides his run to the Wimbledon final last year, he has also reached the quarter-final stage of a major on three other occasions.

“Andy was always a big supporter of me,” Kyrgios said. “As soon as I came on the tour, he kind of saw a work in progress and took me under his wing. Then he realised later in my career that I don’t think I was coachable or I was on my own path, but he was always someone that was looking out for me.
“He saw it [the self-harm] and he said, ‘What’s that on your arm?’ It was pretty bad at that stage. Andy obviously was trying to give me advice on it. But I was just so stuck in my ways at that time that I didn’t listen. Obviously I’m very thankful. I thank him a lot.”

Kyrgios, who has only played one match on the Tour this season due to injury, hopes that he can help others by speaking publicly about his mental health battle. Something he describes as ‘the most powerful thing in his career.’

“I feel like I’ve helped so many people after I opened up about it and put it on social media,” Kyrgios said.
“I’ve almost been a beacon for people who are struggling. When they feel like they’re overwhelmed and they’re going towards drinking, drugs and stuff, they open up and they feel like I’m relatable.
“That’s been the most powerful thing in my career; people coming to me with genuine issues.
“They send me photos in my Instagram, direct messages, self-harming and genuinely wanting to commit suicide.
“I have conversations with these people. Sometimes I’ve had phone calls with these people. That’s making a real difference and I’m just really proud.”

Kyrgios recently had a stint in broadcasting after working for The Tennis channel during the ATP Finals in Milan. He is continuing his rehab from injury but it is unclear as to when he will make his return to professional tennis.

Continue Reading

Focus

Hamad Medjedovic earns first place in Red Group at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah

Published

on

Hamad Medjedovic beat Abdullah Shelbayh 3-4 (6-8) 4-2 4-3 (7-5) 4-2 to earn first place in the Red Group with a perfect 3-0 record at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah. 

 

Medjedovic needed to win at least one set to reach the semifinals, while Shelbayh needed to win the match in three or four sets. Luca Van Assche qualified as the second-placed player from the Red Group.

Medjedovic will face Dominic Stricker in the semifinal, while Van Assche takes on Arthur Fils.  

Medjedovic fired 18 aces and won 88 % of his first-serve points. He saved all three break points against Shelbayh. 

Medjedovic fired a tournament-leading 45 aces and was broken twice. 

Medjedovic saved three break points to hold serve in the fourth game of the first set. Shelbayh went up a mini-break twice, but Medjedovic pulled back on serve both times. Shelbayh won the final three points to clinch the tie-break 8-6. Both players went on serve in the first five games before Medjedovic earned the break to win the second set 4-2. 

The third set went on serve with no break points en route to the tie-break. Shelbayh earned the first mini-break to take a 3-2 lead. Medjedovic pulled back on serve to draw level to 3-3. The Serbian player earned a second mini-break to close out the tie-break 7-5. 

Medjedovic started the fourth set with an early break in the first game. He held on his next service games and sealed the win on his first match point. 

Medjedovic set up a semifinal match against Dominic Stricker. Luc Van Assche will face Arthur Fils in an all-French semifinal.“It was a great match. I played really good after the first set He is a very good friend of mine. He is a very good player and obviously the crowd here loves him and I respect that. It was a pleasure to play in front of the crowd”, said Medjedovic. 

Continue Reading

Focus

Dominic Stricker cruises past Luca Nardi at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah

Published

on

Third seed Dominic Stricker cruised past Luca Nardi 4-1 4-1 4-2 in 54 minutes in the fastest match in the history of the Next Gen Finals at the Next Gen ATP Finals at the King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah bouncing back from his defeat in the first match against Flavio Cobolli on Tuesday. 

 

Stricker converted four of his six break points and hit 13 winners, including 3 aces. 

Stricker came back from 15-40 down in the first game after two double faults from Nardi and broke serve with a return winner on the deciding point to take a 1-0 lead. The world number 94 saved three break-back-back points in the second game from 15-40 down before breaking for the second time in the fifth game to win the first set 4-1. 

Stricker broke serve at 30 in the second game of the second set and held serve at love in the third game to race out to a 3-0 lead. Stricker served it out on his second set point. 

Stricker earned an early break in the first game of the third set on the deciding point and held his next service games. Nardi saved the first match point but he hit his backhand into the net on the second match point after the longest rally of the match. 

“We had a long discussion yesterday evening about how to do it today. I think it was really good that we talked a lot after what maybe was not my best performance. Now to come out today like that, I think nobody expected that. I am just happy that I did it and now I am going to try my best to recover for the third group match”, said Stricker. Stricker is now 1-1 in Green Group. The Swiss player is aiming to reach his second consecutive semifinal at the Next Gen Finals. He is looking to crown a good year after reaching the fourth round at the US Open. 

Continue Reading
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

Trending