By Matthew Marolf
The pristine grass on the main stadiums of SW19 await the players on one of the most special days of the tennis year.
And it will be the first time Wimbledon hosts two covered courts, as No.1 Court’s new retractable roof will be available in case rain arrives to interrupt play. Though it may be awhile before we see the new roof in action, as there is currently no rain in the forecast for the coming days.
For the first time in six months, all active players with three or more Major singles titles are all present. Serena, Roger, Rafa, Novak, Venus, Maria, Andy, Stan, and Angelique will all play during this fortnight, with Murray of course only entering the doubles draws as comes back from hip replacement surgery. With all these champions in their 30’s, this will likely be one of the final times we see them all together in one fortnight.
Novak Djokovic (1) vs. Philipp Kohlschreiber
As tradition dictates, Day 1’s play on Centre Court will commence with the defending men’s singles champion. It was at this tournament a year ago where Djokovic won his first Major in over two years, edging Nadal in a tremendous semi-final before easily dispatching of an exhausted Kevin Anderson in the final.
Novak arrives this year having claimed three of the last four Slams, but is coming off a frustrating semi-final loss to Dominic Thiem at Roland Garros. And he finds a tough opponent in his opening round, in a veteran who defeated him earlier this year in Indian Wells. The 35-year-old German can also play on the grass: he was a quarterfinalist here in 2012. However, Djokovic owns a 10-2 record in their career head-to-head, and already avenged his Indian Wells loss to Kohlschreiber by taking him out in both Monte Carlo and Rome. While Philipp will get his full attention, Novak is still a heavy favourite to prevail.
Kevin Anderson (4) vs. Pierre-Hugues Herbert
Here we have the other men’s finalist from last year, and he too has a dangerous opening round draw. Anderson is seeded fourth here despite being ranked eighth in the world thanks to Wimbledon’s seeding formula which favours grass court results over the past few years. The 33-year-old South African has only played two matches since March due to an elbow injury, and faces one of the highest-ranked players he could draw in the first round.
Herbert, a multi-time Major doubles champion, has been focusing solely on singles in recent months, though he will be teaming with Andy Murray in the Wimbledon men’s doubles event. The 28-year-old Frenchman has a career losing record at Slams in singles, but is coming off a run to the semi-finals on the grass of Halle two weeks ago. Anderson won their only previous meeting on a hard court four years ago. Herbert has plenty of variety in his game, which is well-suited for the grass, and could prove to be a bracket buster against a former finalist who is lacking match play.
Naomi Osaka (2) vs. Yulia Putintseva
This is yet another first round draw that could not have pleased a top seed. Putintseva upset Osaka just two weeks ago in Birmingham, a loss which cost Naomi her No.1 ranking. Yulia also took their other previous meeting last year in Hobart. Since winning her second straight Major in January, and subsequently splitting with her coach, Sascha Bajin, Osaka has struggled with injuries and her form.
Naomi has advanced to the third round of Wimbledon in both the last two years, but is yet to advance farther. She is yet to establish herself as a threat on the grass. Putintseva has twice been a quarterfinalist at the French Open, but is just 3-5 lifetime at Wimbledon, so grass is also not her strong suit. Even though Osaka is yet to defeat Putintseva, I’m giving her the slight edge here. Naomi showed a lot of grit by getting through some rough matches in Paris when she was at much less than her best. I suspect she’ll find a way to fight through here as well.
Venus Williams vs. Coco Gauff (Q)
It’s not often you find a 39-year-old or a 15-year-old in a Grand Slam singles draw, much less find them playing against each other. But this Day 1 encounter features the five-time Wimbledon ladies champion against the 2018 French Open juniors’ champion. This will be Gauff’s senior-level Major debut, while it’s Venus’ astounding 83rd main draw appearance at a Slam.
Coco has been deemed a champion of the future, but how will the teenager react to playing an icon from her same country? It’s been a rough 18 months for Venus, who is just 6-6 at the last six Majors. But Venus almost always finds her best tennis of the year at this tournament, and has made the semis or better in two of the last three years. Venus must be considered the favourite, though it will be interesting to see how this generational clash plays out.
Su-Wei Hsieh (28) vs. Jelena Ostapenko
You will rarely see a harsher contrast in styles than in this matchup. It will be the unique, off-speed groundstrokes of Hsieh against the powerful, go-for-broke hitting of Ostapenko. A semi-finalist here a year ago, Jelena has just 15 wins since that time. The former junior Wimbledon champion fell just short of being seeded here, and could fall outside the top 80 with a loss today. However, she did get four solid grass-court wins leading up to this fortnight, over names like Sloane Stephens and Johanna Konta. Ostapenko will dictate play, and will need to avoid getting frustrated by the often-agitating style of Hsieh. Su-Wei upset top-seeded Simona Halep here last year, and also took out then-world No.1 Osaka in Miami earlier this year.
Hsieh won their only previous meeting, though that was on a hart court three years ago against a young and inexperienced Ostapenko. Despite Su-Wei being the seeded player, Jelena will likely feel more pressure here, considering all the points she’s defending. While I don’t foresee another deep run here this year, the grass should favour the game of Ostapenko. I expect her to hit her way through this one.
Other notable matches on Day 1:
Sascha Zverev (6) vs. Jiri Vesely (Q). The left-handed qualifier has been hobbled by injuries of late, but thrives at Wimbledon, where he is 10-5 lifetime.
Simona Halep (7) vs. Aliaksandra Sasnovich. The 25-year-old from Belarus upset Petra Kvitova in the first round a year ago.
Stefanos Tsitsipas (7) vs. Thomas Fabbiano. This is a rematch from last year’s Wimbledon third round, which Tsitsipas easily took in straight sets. Fabbiano is fresh off a run to the semifinals in Eastbourne last week.
Eastbourne champion Karolina Pliskova (3) vs. Lin Zhu, a 25-year-old from China ranked outside the top 100.
Stan Wawrinka (22) starts his campaign for the only Major title missing from his collection vs. Ruben Bemelmans (Q), the 171st-ranked player in the world.
