A little mid-afternoon rain shower Tuesday served merely to freshen up the grass and prepare a lovely platform for the top guns to come out and stamp their authority on the first round at Wimbledon.
Some big seeds may have fallen on Monday, but this was a day for Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams, Andy Murray and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to show who is boss around these parts.
Mardy Fish was also a winner, but the fact that he opted out of the obligatory press conference after his 7-6 (3), 7-5, 7-6 (1) victory over Spain’s Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo raised all sorts of queries about his health. The message was that Mardy was simply not feeling well. Friends who reached him electronically were told that the problem had nothing to do with the heart palpitations that had kept him off the circuit since Miami in March.
If that was a relief, only time will tell what kind of shape America’s top-ranked player will be in when he plays Great Britain's James Ward in the next round. Ward, a Londoner ranked No. 173, came through a tough five-setter against 36th-ranked Pablo Andujar of Spain. Ward will have plenty of hometown support.
Nadal shrugged off a 4-1 first-set deficit against Thomaz Bellucci to crush the Brazilian left-hander 7-6 (0), 6-2, 6-3. There was no slow start for Murray when he followed Rafa on Centre Court.
Striking the ball with a silky rhythm from the first ball, Murray demolished Nikolay Davydenko 6-1, 6-1, 6-4 with one of his best performances at Wimbledon. The Russian, who has been sleeping with ear plugs to drown out the nocturnal cries of his two-month-old baby, should probably have used them on court. Then, at least, he wouldn’t have had to deal with the cries of the crowd, as well as his opponent’s near-perfect tennis.
Davydenko came into this match seriously lacking grass-court practice, but he was a longtime resident of the world’s top 10 and even now, at 31 years old, he is no pushover. Murray, however, made it look that way.
Another, even more prominent "old boy" fared little better over on No. 1 Court. Lleyton Hewitt, champion here in 2002 and also 31 years old, was blasted off court by Tsonga 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. Hewitt did have plenty of break points but could never convert. His exit, coupled with the more surprising defeat of 20th seed Bernard Tomic, left Australia with no male representative in the second round at Wimbledon for the first time since 1938.
Tomic went out 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 to David Goffin, the little Belgian who made such an impact at Roland Garros by winning three matches after getting into the draw as a lucky loser and then taking the first set off Roger Federer. Goffin, one of the tour’s youngest players, at 21, confirmed his promise with this victory even though Tomic was well below the standard he set here last year, when he made it through to the quarterfinals.
To the annoyance of many Australians who expect more of the younger generation, Tomic admitted that he had not been training as hard as he might have.
“I think the last few months," he said, "I have been casually sort of working — not using my hard work to get me where I was last year.”
That caused former Wimbledon doubles champion Paul McNamee to react this way: “I hope this serves as a wake-up call. Not having anyone in the second round is a bit of a shocker.”
American tennis was given another fillip by the continued improvement of Brian Baker, the 27-year-old qualifier from Nashville, Tenn., who has made such an impact since he returned to the tour after a series of surgeries kept him inactive for five years. Baker struck the ball hard and early against Portugal’s Rui Machado and totally dominated the match, winning it 7-6 (2), 6-4, 6-0.
And Sam Querrey was also a winner, overcoming a second-set blip to beat the young Canadian Vasek Pospisil 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-4.
Serena let out a little cry of joy when she completed her 6-2, 6-4 victory over Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, a Czech she had beaten with even greater ease at the Australian Open in January. Serena was relieved to win because she had been tested by her opponent’s willingness to come in behind numerous drops shots — a ploy that, briefly, had Serena on the run.
“Definitely a relief,” she said, referring obliquely to the fact that last month she had suffered her first-ever defeat in a Grand Slam first round at Roland Garros.
Then she talked about what motivates her to go on competing.
“It’s a great feeling,” she replied. “For that moment in time, it’s all about you and your opponent. For me, I love that feeling. I don’t know quite why, but I really do.”
She also elaborated on what it’s like to be quite as famous as she is and have 2.5 million followers on Twitter.
“I think being involved in a sport that’s traditionally white and being a black girl and doing so awesome in general is going to open eyes of watchers that don’t normally watch tennis," she said. "Also I have a pretty outgoing personality. Maybe not today, but I’m pretty upbeat and funny. I’m not afraid to wear my emotions on my sleeve or speak my mind on a lot of things.”
That’s all a level of celebrity that 20-year-old Christina McHale from New Jersey hasn’t even begun to comprehend. But she, too, was a winner on this second day of Wimbledon after her match against Johanna Konta, a newly naturalized Brit who arrived here from Hungary by way of Australia, was interrupted over night deep into the third set.
Konta came into the tournament as an unknown quantity, but she will be heard from again. Hitting the ball with great power off the ground, she frequently forced McHale back on her heels during long rallies and came within a couple of points of victory.
Resuming down 8-7, McHale found her service under serious threat as Konta hammered a couple of good returns and was lucky that her opponent netted a short backhand at 30-all.
McHale, who is growing as a match player, didn’t panic. Having held on, she broke in the next game and served out for victory despite going down 40-0. An ace and a couple of nervous mistakes from Konta enabled her to close out a 6-7 (4), 6-2, 10-8 victory.
