Hits and Misses: Evaluating First Round Performances at Wimbledon
Posted by Aaress Lawless on Jun 24, 2008 | Print | Email | Bookmark | Free Subscription
How did the Top 10 seeds perform during the first round of the 2008 Wimbledon Championships?
A few players dazzled, but the rest reminded us that the largest room in the world is the room for improvement.
(1) Ana Ivanovic
The top seed remains a class act, both off and on the court. While I’m not convinced that she can beat the Williams sisters or Sharapova on these fast lawns, Ivanovic looks like an easy lock to reach the semifinals.
(2) Jelena Jankovic
As unbelievable as it may seem, Jelena Jankovic has actually headed to Wimbledon rested and healthy. She resisted the urge to compete at Birmingham, Eastbourne, or s’-Hertogenbosch, which means that she might actually last ten days without reciting a litany of aches and pains.
(3) Maria Sharapova
It was a solid opening round performance for the former champion, although she did struggle a little in the second set. On the fashion front, I found myself agreeing with Brad Gilbert for the first time in a long while as I’m also not impressed with the tuxedo shorts look.
(4) Svetlana Kuznetsova
About the only thing positive to say about Kuznetsova’s first round match is that she somehow managed to win. Kuznetsova’s inconsistency continues to hurt her at majors and if her opening match is any indication of the future, she’ll be out before the week is over.
(5) Elena Dementieva
At the time this was published, Dementieva was the only seed still battling in the first round. When the match was suspended on Tuesday, Dementieva held a 6-3, 3-3 lead over Maria Elena Camerin. Most impressively, she has a 74% first serve percentage and zero double faults.
(6) Serena Williams
Kaia Kanepi was a tough customer for Serena in the opening round, but after shaking off some excess rust, the former champ still escaped in two sets. I’m not going to label it a shoddy performance, but Serena has plenty of room for improvement.
(7) Venus Williams
Compared to her first round last season, Venus did well to shut Naomi Cavaday down in the tiebreak. Still, like her sister, she needs another few rounds to hit her groove.
(8) Anna Chakvetadze
For about 30 minutes on Monday, I thought we’d see a double Russian exit with the upsets of Kuznetsova and Chakvetadze. Both women lived to fight another day, but given Chakvetadze’s lack of confidence, she might not be so fortunate next time.
(9) Dinara Safina
It is too early to tell if Safina’s upset in the final at the Ordina Open was a momentary fluke or a sign of exhaustion. If it is the latter, she’ll have a tough task ahead of her with Dementieva, Shahar Peer, and an injured, but still dangerous Lindsay Davenport in her quarter.
(10) Daniela Hantuchova
Big accolades go to Hantuchova, who successfully returned to the Tour with a straight sets victory over Sara Errani after spending two months on the injured list.
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Will.I.AM | Jun 24, 2008 | Reply
I can’t believe you don’t like Sharapova’s outfit. I think it’s very original and cute. My favorite outfit of the tournament.
Suze | Jun 25, 2008 | Reply
Sharapova’s outfit was just okay. The shorts was the problem, somehow, it didn’t look right. Maybe too loose. And, I remember a Tux like shirt for Maria Kirilenko’s 2007 outfit by adidas from Stella McCartney. Serena’s Mackintosh was interesting, though she looked odd warming up in it; not necessary. Venus was alright in her EleVen outfit too.
Venus played well, she will have the un-enviable task of eliminating two Brit women favorites.
I do worry about Sveta, she does seem pretty shaky still. So much promise, but she fails to inspire for some strange reason.
Sharapova and Jelena have been pretty excellent so far, given that they played no grass tournaments before the Championships.
They had Elena on some far away court. I think court 17 it was. Elena needs to win a Slam soon to get some respect, she’s a top 10 player for crying out loud.
Ivanovic will go far, Safina looked alright, but Anna will not be able sleepwalk her way through this tournament. She will need to wake up or it will be curtains pretty soon.