Trouble with covid, Czech derby and the return of a legend. That was the first round at Wimbledon

One of the most famous tennis tournaments has finished its first round matches. There were a few surprises at the All England Club in London. For Czech fans, the most pleasant one is the victory of Maria Bouzkova over the top 10 player, Danielle Collins. The high-ranked Pole Hubert Hurkacz also said goodbye to the tournament. There was certainly no shortage of unexpected results. TheCzechs started the main competition at Wimbledon in eleven, going into the second round in five.

Unfortunately, Covid-19’s illness once again spoke into the story of this year’s Wimbledon. Last year’s finalist Matteo Berrettini and 2014 US Open winner Marin Cilic had to withdraw from the tournament just before their first match.

As for surprising results, there were a minimum of them in the men’s part of the pavilion. Only six of the seeded players dropped out, with a pair of players, Grigor Dimitrov and Pablo Carreño Busta, having to abandon their matches.

Apart from Hurkacz, who was issued a stoppage by Spaniard Davidovich Fokina, the talented Canadian Félix Auger-Aliassime also retired in the first round. He could not keep up with the American Cressy, to whom he lost 1: 3 in sets.

In the women’s bracket, Maria Bouzkova’s win over American Collins was undoubtedly the least expected. The eighteenth seed, Swiss Teichmann, and the thirty-third seed, Brazilian Haddad Maio, also said goodbye to the tournament. Even the Brazilian’s loss raised eyebrows in the tennis community.

the 26-year-old has won two titles on grass this year, and at the third event in Eastbourne she was only beaten in the semi-finals by the late winner Petra Kvitova. Haddad Maiova was not able to keep up with Slovenia’s Juvanova, whom she lost 1:2 in sets.

The two top seeds advanced almost without any problems. While Iga Świąteková allowed only three games to Croatia’s Fett, Novak Djokovic had to go to four sets against Korea’s Kwon. However, the defending champion handled the match with a 1:1 set scoreline with bravado and moved on.

The large Czech group suffered significant losses. Of the men’s foursome, only Jiri Vesely managed to advance. The matches of Jiri Lehecka and Lukas Rosol also looked promising, but both Czechs fell after five-set battles. On the other hand, Zdeněk Kolář suffered a debacle, losing to Frenchman Bonzi 3::6, 3::6 and 1::6.

The Czechs were assured of one advancing to the second round. In the Czech duel between Tereza Martincová and Karolina Pliskova, the latter won, so Martincová is out of the tournament.

In addition to Maria Bouzkova, Petra Kvitová and Barbora Krejčíková will advance to the next round. Kateřina Siniaková, Karolina Muchová and the aforementioned Martincová are out.

The tournament on grass courts in England also brought the return of a great tennis legend. American legend Serena Williams returned to the courts after a year. She last played at Wimbledon, last year in the first round she had to surrender to Belarusian Sasnovich after a nasty injury.

The winner of 23 Grand Slam titles fought a huge battle with Frenchwoman Harmony Tan. After more than three hours, the 24-year-old Frenchwoman finally rejoiced as she managed the third set tiebreak better and won 7::5, 1::6 and 7::6.

Due to Monday’s rain, the schedule at the All England Club was slightly delayed, so the last matches of the women’s first round were played during the third day. On Wednesday, the tournament will continue as scheduled, with the second round matches starting.

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