Murray outclasses Brown, Cilic through Injury dropouts raise questions
Defending champion wins 62, 62, maintains his record of always having reached at least the third round
LONDON: Defending champion Andy Murray outclassed German maverick Dustin Brown 6-3 6-2 6-2 in an entertaining match of exhibition style shots on Wednesday to maintain his record of always having reached at least round three at Wimbledon.
Brown, ranked 97th in the world, was a potentially tricky opponent having beaten twice champion Rafa Nadal in the second round in 2015.
Despite being moved around the court by a barrage of drop shots and lobs from Brown, world number one Murray only rarely showed signs of the sore hip that had been troubling him and he gave as good as he got - but with more accuracy and control.
The top seed’s win was greeted by huge cheers from the home crowd who are hoping to see the 30-year-old twice champion become the first British player to retain a grand slam title since Fred Perry in the 1930s.
CILIC SURVIVES
Marin Cilic survived a difficult start to seal a spot in the third round after battling to a 7-6(2) 6-4 7-5 victory over German Florian Mayer in unrelenting heat on Court Two on Wednesday.
Mayer, ranked 114th in the world and without a victory over a top-10 player in 12 grand slam matches, broke in the first game of the match, before having the opportunity to serve for the first set. However, Cilic broke back, and found his high-powered service game at the pivotal moment, hammering three aces to help edge the first-set tiebreak.
The 2014 U.S. Open champion, who came into Wimbledon in good form having reached the final at Queen’s Club, fired four big winners to break in the ninth game of the second set before serving out the set.
Mayer did not give up without a fight, however, as he again broke the Cilic serve to lead 5-3 in the third, only to again flounder at the crucial moment, with Cilic storming back to win five games in a row and clinch victory with a trademark ace.
KONTA ADVANCES Britain’s Johanna Konta reached the third round for the first time Wednesday with a 7-6 (8/6), 4-6, 10-8 win over Donna Vekic which left her opponent in tears. The 26-year-old Konta triumphed after three hours and 10 minutes in the sweltering Centre Court heat and goes on to face Maria Sakkari of Greece for a last-16 spot.
With Heather Watson having also made the last 32, it is the first time since 1986 that two British women have reached the third round at Wimbledon.
Vekic, watched by boyfriend Stan Wawrinka, the men’s world number three, was inconsolable in defeat having squandered break points in the 17th game of the deciding set. “It hasn’t quite sunk in. I feel very fortunate to have come through that,” said Konta, who had lost to the 21-year-old Croatian in the Nottingham final last month. LONDON: Sympathy was in short supply for Wimbledon’s walking wounded on Tuesday after backto-back retirements robbed Centre Court fans of what should have been a blockbuster double bill featuring Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.
Within the space of 70 minutes Martin Klizan and Alexandr Dolgopolov called it quits in their first round matches against Djokovic and Federer respectively.
Since Klizan and Dolgopolov appeared to have carried injuries into their matches, many observers accused them of being selfish as they short-changed fans and denied fully-fit players a place in the draw.
“There’s got to be a rule for guys who come out clearly not giving or able to give 100 percent. It’s no good for anyone,” tennis great John McEnroe said while commentating on the BBC.
“There are guys waiting in there, the lucky loser will be looking ... and thinking he could have played on Centre Court at Wimbledon.”
Before day two of the championships had even been completed, seven players had thrown in the towel.
Nick Kyrgios was the first to pull out on Monday after failing to recover from a hip injury he aggravated at London’s Queen’s Club two weeks ago. Denis Istomin and Viktor Troicki followed suit before Klizan, Dolgopolov, Janko Tipsarevic and Queen’s Club champion Feliciano Lopez also quit.
BIGGEST CHEQUE
For many of the fringe players on the tour, featuring in the first round of a Grand Slam allows them to pick up what could be their biggest pay cheque of the year.
With the first-round Wimbledon losers banking 35,000 pounds ($45,216.50) this year, some wondered if the sums of money at stake were the deciding factor on why unfit players turned up.
“It’s a lot of money. For some it’s more, for some it’s less,” said seven-time Wimbledon champion Federer whose first round workout lasted a mere 43 minutes before Dolgopolov retired while trailing 6-3, 3-0, 30-30.
He felt the Grand Slams should look into adopting a financial compensation system that is in place on the ATP Tour.
Kyrgios later said he had gone against medical advice and chose to play as “it’s my favourite tournament”.
Federer said Dolgopolov decided to cut his losses after he “felt too much pain on the serve”. On each occasion, the trainer was called to aid the two players but the treatments offered could not salvage the situation.