WIMBLEDON
4 1⁄2 hours and at least 20 matches were postponed until Tuesday.
And there was tennis — and reminders of how sports are unpredictable and can bring such joy and disappointment. A pair of Americans picked up the most newsworthy victories: Frances Tiafoe eliminated French Open runner-up and No. 3 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 6-4, 6-3, while 2017 U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens beat two-time Wimbledon winner and No. 10 seed Petra Kvitova 6-3, 6-4.
Stephens, a Plantation native, and Tiafoe are among 34 Americans in the singles brackets (21 women, 13 men), the most at Wimbledon since there were 35 in 1998. Others who won on Day 1 included qualifier Denis Kudla, who knocked off No. 30 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 5-7, 6-4,
7-6 (4), 6-3, 6-3; 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin, of Pembroke Pines, 2017 U.S. Open runner-up Madison Keys, Danielle Collins and Lauren Davis.
Stephens and Tiafoe, both ranked outside the Top 50, bumped into each other shortly before their matches.
“She was coming up; I was going to practice. I was just like, ‘Sloane, I back you to win today. I’m not even worried about it,’ ” said Tiafoe. “She’s cracking up, laughing. She’s like, ‘Well, you better do the same thing.’ I was like, ‘Hey, don’t worry about it.’ ”
There was little to worry about. Both pulled off convincing victories.
“First thing I came off [court], seeing if she won. That made me even happier. I’m happy for both of us,” said Tiafoe, 23.
Tiafoe had been 0-11 against opponents ranked in the Top 5.
“That guy is special. He’s going to do a lot of great things, win a ton of Grand Slams,” Tiafoe said about Tsitsipas, then broke into a wide smile and added: “But not today.”
Other seeded men who lost: No. 19 Jannik Sinner of Italy and No. 27 Reilly Opelka of the U.S.
No. 23 Keys, who beat British qualifier Katie
Swan 6-3, 6-4 without facing a break point, said, “Not playing last year was very, very disappointing, and it feels a little bit weird that there was such a big gap in between grass seasons. But to have a crowd and the size of the crowd that we had today — I, at one point, felt like it was back to normal.”
“It was just very, very nice to be back in a situation where you felt an amazing crowd,” Keys said, “even if they were cheering, obviously, for my opponent and wanted her to win. It was just so nice to have energy and people who are excited to watch tennis.”
The coronavirus still looms over the event.
Fans must wear masks around the grounds (although not while watching a match) and show proof they either are fully vaccinated or had COVID-19 in the past six months. All players and their entourages have to stay at one
London hotel, where they take regular tests and are subject to contact tracing.
Britain’s only seeded woman in singles, No. 27 Johanna Konta, was forced to withdraw Sunday night because she must selfisolate for 10 days after one of her team members tested positive for COVID-19.
The top-seeded Djokovic got off to a slow start in his bid for a record-tying 20th Grand Slam title and sixth at Wimbledon.
It would have been so easy — so understandable, even — for Draper to be fazed by the moment and the opponent, the setting and the stakes, right away. This was his Grand Slam main draw debut, after all. But he stole the first break to lead 2-1 and wound up taking that set by saving 7 of 7 break points.
Djokovic took two tumbles onto his backside in the first set, losing his footing on the slick grass behind the baseline. This was his first competitive singles match on the surface since edging Roger Federer in the 2019 final.
“To be honest, I don’t recall falling this many times on the court,” Djokovic said with a laugh. “Well, quite slippery, whether it’s because the roof is closed or it was raining quite a lot the last few days, I don’t know.”
A 125 mph service winner gave Draper the opening set after 37 minutes.
Two hours later, it was all over.
Djokovic cleaned up his act considerably, going from just six winners and nine unforced errors in the opening set to a combined 41 winners and 15 unforced errors the rest of the way.
“I’m really glad,” he said, speaking for many, “that the sport is back.”