Williams, Sharapova, Djokovic, Nishikori off to winning start at Wimbledon

Way to go V ! A double bagel ! And in just forty minutes ! Wow ! That grass on the courts at Wimbledon is absolutely stunning ! Give it about four or five more days, and it will be patchy ! I want some strawberries and cream !

Shame there was so little about Nishikori s game. From elsewhere. Nishikori said he anticipated that it was going to be a tough battle even though he is seeded 5th to Bolelli's 55th. Nishikori played Bolelli, also for a full 5 sets to win the third round last year. He wished he had one the tie break in the second set. He felt he improved to be "nearly perfect" in the final set and, when asked if his recent injury left calf injury which forced him to retire from the Halle tournament had any effect on his performance he replied "Even if it did, I would not say so" (which seems to me to imply that it did). It surely did since he had treatment to his left calf during a time out after the third game in the final set. According to one report he did not move too well after that ("nearly perfect"?) but his serve, which has has worked on recently, was on top form. His next match is against an opponent ranked 60th. The only other seeded player in his block before the quarter finals Pablo Cuevas, ranked 27th, lost his match. If he and other seeds beat players ranked lower than them, then Nishikori will not meet another player ranked above him till the quarter final when he would meet the first seed Djokovic. If Nishikori beat Djokovic as he has in 2 of their 6 matches then (with the above proviso) he'd meet Wawrinka in the semi's.

Full tournament graph here http://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/scores/draws/ms/msdraw.pdf

@timtak: I think it's a little careless to ignore Marin Cilic (#9), the man who thrashed Nishikori in straight sets in the US Open final last September, just because he's seeded lower. The Cilic/Nishikori rematch could happen in the Round of 16, so don't start counting on that Kei/Djokovic quarterfinal just yet, much less the Wawrinka semi.

Fifth-seeded Kei Nishikori of Japan was extended to five sets by Simone Bolelli on Court 1 before prevailing 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.

Bolelli caused him problems last year too, he's not a bad player. But how is his calf muscle, I wonder... Hopefully it's no issue for the 2nd round.

timtak,

Thanks for your info!

Not only did Williams get off to another slow start Monday, she also got a warning for her language. In the sixth game, she received a code violation for an audible obscenity after sliding on the grass and falling during a point.

... so what did she say? If it's good enough for Wimbledon it's good enough for us!

Not only did Williams get off to another slow start Monday, she also got a warning for her language. In the sixth game, she received a code violation for an audible obscenity after sliding on the grass and falling during a point.

No one can question her talent or performance, but her character and maturity have been an embarrassment since she first turned pro. It's very difficult for me to like her.

Original Wing,

Cilic or any of these top 20 players can beat anyone on their day.

Although Cilic beat Nishikori at the US, Nishikori has had the better of their meetings. Cilic does have the advantage of a powerful serve, whereas Nishikori has to run more to win his points. Nishikori needs to develop a way to win more easy points to consistently be in with a chance for a win at the Grand Slams.

@fxgai

Nishikori needs to develop a way to win more easy points to consistently be in with a chance for a win at the Grand Slams.

Agreed.

Cilic or any of these top 20 players can beat anyone on their day.

In the sense of "That's why they play the game" and "Nothing's guaranteed," of course you're right. But I think you're suggesting a level of parity that I don't believe exists. I think the top tier of players (The Big 4 and possibly Wawrinka as well) aren't all that vulnerable against other members of the Top 20 on their best day. I'd take an average outing for one of the Big 4 over a spectacular outing for Tommy Robredo or Gilles Simon. And I certainly don't think that NIshikori is a tennis giant who was upset by an inferior Cilic who happened to be having the best day of his life in the U.S. finals.

Fair points, but I'm not convinced by Cilic beating Nishikori in the US final that he is a better bet. Nishikori had a 5-2 head-to-head lead on Cilic before that loss.

Based on that if they do meet at Wimbledon I would back Nishikori for revenge (although his calf injury is a concern at the moment).

Cilic hasn't done a lot this year so far as I can see, no tournament victories, unlike Nishikori. (Cilic has been injured perhaps?)