Wimbledon: Thoughts from Week One

The Good

Jul 3, 2015; London, United Kingdom; Serena Williams (USA) reacts during her match against Heather Watson (GBR) on day five of The Championships Wimbledon at the AELTC. Mandatory Credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports

Women’s Match of Week One

It was tempting to go with the Watson vs. Williams match in the third round, but there really was no better viewing experience than Muguruza vs. Kerber. Sure, the second and third sets featured some streaky play, but the marathon 83-minute first set was among the best contests any of the women have offered this year. The dialogue between the Spaniard’s brute force and the German’s defensive skills and ability to absorb pace provided a matchup where neither player was the superior, meaning that the winner could only be decided by the slimmest of margins.

I’ll admit that I’m not a fan of Muguruza’s game, but it was hard not to admire her grit and determination in pulling out the win here. Kerber had a multitude of break point opportunities in the first set but Muguruza saw them off each time with bold winners, including some stunning forehands down the line.

It was disappointing to see Angie, a potential title contender, go out so early. But she sure went out in style, in a match that truly had everything: there were tears, laughter, foot faults, bad calls by Mariana Alves, a screeching Spaniard, an emotional German, approximately 23 instances of the commentators using the phrase ‘roller coaster’, and what may be the point of the year.

Women’s Performances of Week One

Amidst a group of strong performances, three woman have stood out:

Firstly, there’s Venus Williams who has turned back the clock on her path to her first appearance in the second week at Wimbledon since 2011. Although solid throughout all three rounds, she was simply phenomenal in her first round match against Madison Brengle, claiming a double bagel.

Then, there’s Aga Radwanska, who is enjoying a resurgence on the grass courts she loves so much. She’s dropped only 12 games against 3 tricky opponents, including her 2014 French Open conqueror Ajla Tomljanovic.

Finally, there’s the surprise package, Coco Vandeweghe. The bulky American was in pretty shaky form coming into this Wimbledon, but employed a more consistent serve amongst her booming groundstrokes to take out red-hot Karolina Pliskova and Samantha Stosur.

Men’s Match of Week One

No one expected Lleyton Hewitt to go out easily in his final Wimbledon appearance. And even though he lost the match, the Aussie gave the All-England Club one last memorable match by pushing Jarkko Nieminen to an 11-9 fifth set. Sure, Hewitt’s still competing in the men’s doubles tournament, but this was his true final hurrah. And the fact that this was (the admittedly lesser known) Nieminen’s last appearance at Wimbledon made the match all that much more monumental.

Men’s Performance of Week One

It’s no surprise that the top four – Djokovic, Federer, Murray and Wawrinka – have been in top form this week. Outside of this group, two men, who are scheduled to meet in the fourth round, have particularly impressed this week.

Always possessing an aesthetically pleasing game, Richard Gasquet has never consistently demonstrated the ferocity or aggressive gameplay to do damage at the majors. That may have changed this week. Using his one-handed backhand to stunning effect, the Frenchman has cruised through the first three rounds of the tournament, including a fantastic win over last year’s semifinalist Grigor Dimitrov.

His opponent in the next round, Nick Kyrgios, has also performed well this week. There was some doubt as to whether the Australian could match his quarterfinal appearance from last year, especially when drawn in the same section as the man who defeated him last year, Milos Raonic. It obviously didn’t faze him though, with the brash youngster serving up a storm in a four-set win over the Canadian.

It’s a shame that one of these two men will have to depart in the next round. But whoever wins will surely be a dangerous out in the latter stages of the tournament.

Next: The Bad (Nishikori's withdrawal)