WIMBLEDON – Second, fourth and fifth seeds Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Jo-Wilfred Tsonga, respectively have reached the second round at Wimbledon. All men moved on with straight set victories on Centre Court on Tuesday.
Nadal overcame a 0-4 first set deficit to right himself to 7-6 (0), 6-2, 6-3 win over Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci.
The Spaniard discussed his poor start: “Well, happened that I had the breakpoint in the first game, so I think I played a good first game†Nadal said. But he had a few chances at the first, and then two great serves in the advantage in the middle to the tee.
“Then I played bad game with my serve. Even I think I have game point for me, or few chances, but I had a few mistakes with my forehand.
“And then he hit a fantastic returns in the 3‑0, so he played a great game. I was lucky to be back, that’s the thing. I feel lucky after 4‑0 to be able to win the set.
“I think today I didn’t play my best match. I think especially at the first set I played little bit too nervous, little bit not knowing exactly what to do. My movements were a little bit in defensive way, not in aggressive way.
“But I was able to keep winning the first set. That’s the important thing and the good news. Then I started to play better. The second and third set I played better, even if I had a big mistake in the third with 2‑0, 30‑Love to probably close the set with 3‑0.
“I felt in that moment I started to hit better the forehand. That’s the most important thing for me. And in the beginning I didn’t really had the best feeling with my forehand.
“But then I started to feel a little bit better and I was able to hit a few forehands in a row with positive feeling, knowing that I don’t want to miss the ball. That’s a very important thing, no?
“I think the serve worked great almost all the match. Just the beginning I start with not the best percentage, but I finished well, so I’m happy.â€
Scotsman Andy Murray had little trouble with Russia’s Nikolay Davydenko disposing of his opponent 6-1, 6-1, 6-4.
“It was a good start,†said Murray, “and I knew obviously when I drew him I was going to need to start the tournament well, playing good tennis.
“Yeah, I mean, I struck the ball well. It’s been a long couple of weeks since Queen’s. Yeah, obviously with the rain and stuff today, there was a chance might have to play under the roof or there might be some stop/starting.
“So once I got ahead, I really tried to keep it up; did a good job.â€
Murray’s next challenge will be the hard-serving Croatian Ivo Karlovic in the second round.
“It’s a tough match, Murray said. “It’s very hard to get into a rhythm against someone like that. I mean, he’s made it very difficult for a lot of players over the last five, six years because he serves so well, makes you feel pretty uncomfortable on the court.
“So there’s going to be games where you might not even touch the ball where he’s serving, so you need to try and stay in the zone and not kind of lose focus on your service games. I’ll need to serve well against him.â€
Frenchman Jo-Wilfred Tsonga hit 61 winners in his victory over former Wimbledon champion Australian Lleyton Hewitt 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.
It was Hewitt first, first round loss since 2003 when he was the defending champion. That year he lost to Ivo Karlovic.
Tsonga spoke to media about his performance. “Today I did well,†said the Frenchman. “I played well. Very good tennis. Aggressive. Very solid. “
“It’s never easy to play against a guy like this because, I mean, when you go on court you know this guy played unbelievable matches here and is maybe able to play the same tennis, and this is difficult.
“But, you know, for me it’s better to play somebody like this because I have to stay focused, I have to be focused at the beginning of the match, you know. It makes me play a good tennis directly, and not to lose one set or two sets.
“So it was great for me I think to play against Lleyton.â€
Tsonga’s next opponent will be Spain’s Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.