The first day of Wimbledon brought few surprises. Defending champion Roger Federer won his match easily. He did manage to create headlines, mainly by his attire. He walked on court wearing an outfit by UNIQLO, not Nike, for the first time in well over 15 years. He still has Nike shoes. Apparently, Federer has agreed to a deal which pays him $30 million every year for the next 10 years (regardless of whether he plays tennis or not!) to serve as their "worldwide brand ambassador."
There were some upsets on the court: Donna Vekic beat 2018 French Open finalist and #4 seed Sloane Stephens in straight sets, and then her boyfriend, Stan Wawrinka beat #6 seed Grigor Dimitrov in four sets. Also, 2018 Halle champion Borna Coric lost a first-round tussle with fellow NextGen star Daniil Medvedev, opening up Federer's draw.
Both Venus and Serena won their first round matches. Venus lost the first set in a tiebreak but then won the last two sets easily. Serena struggled against a good grasscourt player Arantxa Rus but managed to win two tight sets. However she got some good news when the #25 ranked player had the Top 8 seed in her quarter (#5 seed Elina Svitolina) of the draw removed in 3-sets by Tatjana Maria.
Some of the interesting first round matches I mentioned in my 2018 Wimbledon Draw analysis post occurred.
INTERESTING FIRST ROUND MATCHES TO WATCH OUT FOR
- Dimitrov versus Wawrinka (Dimitrov lost in 4 sets)
- Andy Murray versus Benoit Paire (Murray withdrew the day before the tournament started)
- Gael Monfils versus Richard Gasquet (Monfils won relatively easily in straight sets)
- Dominic Thiem versus Marcos Baghdatis
- Jeremy Chardy versus Denis Shapovalov
- Fernando Verdasco versus Frances Tiafoe
- Angie Kerber versus Vera Zvonareva (Kerber won in two tight sets on Day 2)
- Alize Cornet versus Dominika Cibulkova
- Shuai Peng versus Samantha Stosur
- Belina Bencic versus Caroline Garcia
- Svetlana Kuznetsova versus Barbora Strycova (Strycova won in 2 tight sets)
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