Hello and welcome to Sportstar's live blog of Day One of Wimbledon 2019.
LIVE:
- Last update from the men's section - Eliminated! Gael Monfils retires hurt against fellow countryman Ugo Humbert in the fifth set. The final score read: 7-6 (6), 6-3, 4-6, 5-7, 0-3 (ret.).
- David Goffin beats Bradley Klahn 6-4 6-4 6-4 in straight sets.
- Frenchman Benoit Paire overcame Juan Londero of Argentina 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (4) in four sets after being broken twice in the first set.
- Ousted! Grigor Dimitrov squanders a two set advantage to slip to a 2-6, 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-3, 6-1 loss to Frenchman Corentin Moutet.
- Last update from the women's section for the evening - Victoria Azarenka secures a straight sets 6-4, 6-4 triumph over Alize Cornet.
- So Caroline Wozniacki cruises into the next round after her opponent, Sara Sorribes Tormo, retires hurt. The Dane was leading 5-4 in the first set. Meanwhile, 29th seed Daria Kasatkina has been ousted 3-6, 1-6 by unseeded Aussie Ajla Tomljanovic.
- Boy oh boy, what a phenomenal game of tennis that was. "I was nervous because I have never played on such a big court before. But I kept telling myself that the lines on the court are the same, the court and crowd may be big, but the lines remain the same," says Cori. She sounds so grown up, can you believe she's only 15?
- GAME, SET, MATCH CORI GAUFF!SHE HAS DONE IT! What a moment for the 15-year-old Gauff - she claims a remarkable 6-4, 6-4 win over Venus Williams to storm into the second round of Wimbledon. Cori is in tears, her parents are in tears, and we're in tears too! FULL REPORT HERE
- Gauff is now serving for the match! Yes, you read that right! The 15-year-old is now a game away from sealing a sensational win over Venus Williams!
- Two double faults from Gauff. Venus breaks and the set is level at 4-4.
- Gauff breaks again! And she leads 3-2. This could get over sooner than expected, but the result could go the unexpected way - what's going to make it story of the year (no exaggeration).
- With an ace, Guaff takes the first set 6-4! The newsroom is going to go crazy if she goes on to win this. It's only day one and Wimbledon already giving us a good number of potential stories.
- Cori Gauff breaks her idol! Out of the many meanings that statement can have, what I mean is, she's up a break against her idol Venus Williams. She leads 4-3 in the first set and will serve now.
- Stefanos Tsitsipas is OUT! It's upset after upset on Day One of Wimbledon. He loses 4-6, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6, 3-6 to Thomas Fabbiano.
Turns out, unlike what Zverev said, Wimbledon 2019 is not a tournament for the 'young guys'. Disappointing. Who will unseat the giants now?
- It's time for today's much-awaited match. The Clash of generations. A 39-year-old playing her 22nd Wimbledon championships up against a 15-year-old playing her first Grand Slam. Venus Williams takes on Cori Gauff, who got here as the youngest-ever qualifier. Venus Williams had four Grand Slam titles (and two at Wimbledon) before Gauff was born on March 13, 2005. She idolises the Williams sisters and she's up against one of them today. What a dream come true! I could keep going, but Here's more about her.
"Nothing to lose", she says.
REPORT | Wimbledon 2019: Zverev loses to unseeded Vesely in first round
- AND HE'S OUT! Alexander Zverev is the second big gun to fall today. He loses 6-4, 3-6, 2-6, 5-7 to Jiri Vesely. The World number five's poor run at Grand Slams continue.
Not to rub it in, but Zverev had said 'Maybe Wimbledon is tournament for young guys' .
- Two match points for Jiri Vesely on Zverev's serve.
- Now it's Zverev who's serving to stay in the match. He's trailing 5-6 in the fourth set.
- He saves that one too! Tsitsipas saves two match points and wins the fourth set 7-6 (8). The best match of the day so far. It's level at 2-2.
The 20-year-old keeps producing nail-biting matches. His French Open round of 16 match against Stan Wawrinka that went right down to the wire. A Roland Garros classic .
- Second match point for Fabbiano. And he's serving. He saves that one too! God, I can feel the nerves.
- Tsitsipas loses two set points and now it's match point Fabbiano! Tsitsipas serves.
Saves a match point.
- The loss was Osaka’s second in a row to Putintseva, who beat her in straight sets in the round of 16 at the Birmingham Classic in the third week of June. Read the full report .
- Alexei Popyrin is through to the second round beating Pablo Carreno Busta 7-6, 7-5, 6-2.
- Tsitsipas holds serve to stay in the match and take the fourth set to a tiebreak.
- Anastasija Sevastova cruises through to second round with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Kristie Ahn. Danielle Collins is also through, beating Kazakhstan's Zarina Diyas 6-3, 7-5.
- Ivo Karlovic is through to the second round with a 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 win over Andrea Arnaboldi.
- Another upset is one the cards. Stefanos Tsitsipas is serving to stay in the match against Thomas Fabbiano.
Tsitsipas holds serve and makes it 5-5 in the fourth set. He trails 4-6, 6-3, 4-6, 5-5.
- HUGE UPSET! Naomi Osaka crashes out in the first round of Wimbledon, losing to Yulia Putintseva.
Osaka's poor form continues and she looks far from the player she was when she won the Australian Open earlier this year. Wimbledon 2019 is not where she shines again.
- Zverev is also down a set after three sets against Jiri Vesely. He loses the third set 2-6. But with Zverev, you expect it to go all the way.
- Raonic wins the tiebreak 7-1 and takes the first set 7-6 (1). A double fault from Prajnesh gave Raonic a 3-1 lead and it was easy from there.
- Prajnesh has done well so far. He takes the first set into a tiebreaker. Now's the tough part. Raonic has a tremendous record in tiebreaks. No breaks so far, quite common when you have two big servers playing.
- Marketa Vondrousova, 16th seed here, will not be able to repeat her French Open exploits. Madison Brengle beats her 6-4, 6-4.
- Tsitsipas is making a meal out of this one. He loses the third set 4-6 to Fabbiano and is down a set on Court 2.
- Prajnesh Gunneswaran - India's top-ranked player - is playing Milos Raonic on Court 12. This is only his third Grand Slam appearance (all in 2019) and his first main draw appearance at Wimbledon. It's a big moment for the 29-year-old as the only Indian in the singles main draw. He was feeling pretty confident ahead of the match.
Prajnesh has had his trouble with injuries for most of his career. But the past year has seen him relatively injury-free and fulfilling his potential. He won his first ATP Challenger title at Kunming in April 2018 and has since been on an upward rise, reaching a career-best ranking of 75 a year later.
- Felix Auger-Aliassime wins. That's his first-ever win at a Grand Slam, beating compatriot and former top-30 player Vasek Pospisil 5-7, 6-2, 6-4, 6-3.
- Karen Khachanov stretched out his first round match against South Korea's Kwon Soon-Woo, but he's through in four sets. 7-6 (6), 6-4, 4-6, 7-5.
- Naomi Osaka alert! She faces Yulia Putintseva on centre court. The world number two hasn't looked as good as she did in the second half of 2018, when she won the US Open, and the first half of 2019, when she won the Australian Open. Her troubles began in the clay season and culminated in a third round exit at French Open and being unseated as World No.1 by Ashleigh Barty. Out of the spotlight, can Osaka shine again?
- Stefanos Tsitsipas loses the first 4-6 to Thomas Fabbiano.
- Mihaela Buzarnescu is through to the next round with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Jessica Pegula.
- The 19-year-old Marketa Vondrousova, who finished runner-up at French Open , is in action on Court 15 against Madison Brengle.
- Novak Djokovic wins! Philipp Kohlschreiber put up quite a fight in the second set but the World No.1 looks too good to stumble so early. He wins 6-3, 7-5, 6-3.
- The first five-setter of the tournament comes to an end as former top-10 player Janko Tipsarevic beats Yoshihito Nishioka 6-4, 6-7 (2), 6-2, 5-7, 6-2.
- Stefanos Tsitsipas' first round match against Thomas Fabbiano is underway on Court 2.
- Simona Halep wins! A beautiful dink at the net and she seals her place in the second round with a 6-4, 7-5 win over Sasnovich, who drops a 5-2 lead in the second set.
- Steve Darcis beats Mischa Zverev 6-2, 6-4, 6-4. The other Zverev will take on Jiri Vesely on court one, right after Halep's match against Sasnovich. That doesn't look like it'll end soon. Sasnovich leads the second set 5-4 after Halep won the first 6-4.
- Djokovic wins the second set 7-5. Djokovic broke to go 6-5 up, but only after Kohlschreiber saved one break point. He held serve easily in the next game.
- Kohlschreiber! Wow! He's putting up some fight on centre court against Djokovic. Another brilliant hold as he saves two break points. He leads the second set 5-4.
- UPSET! Tenth seed Aryna Sabalenka has lost to Magdalena Rybarikova. Rybarikova, the 2017 semifinalist, wins it 6-2, 6-4.
- Karolina Pliskova wins her first round match against China's Zhu Lin. It wasn't exactly easy though for the 2016 semifinalist. After taking the first set 6-2, Zhu made her work hard in the second, taking it to a tiebreaker. Pliskova eventually won 6-22, 7-6 (4).
- Anett Konaveit is through! Despite a hiccup in the second set, the 20th seed beats Shelby Rogers 6-0, 3-6, 6-4.
- Kohlschreiber is still alive in this. Djokovic broke back to level the second set 2-2 and it looked like it could follow the first set's script. But the 35-year-old is still holding on with some brilliant tennis and leads 4-3.
- Woah! Felix Auger-Aliassime has lost the first set 7-5 Valek Pospisil. Pospisil, coming off a back surgery in January, is ranked 187th in the world. Not too long ago, the 2014 Wimbledon doubles champion, was among the top 30 singles players in the world. While fighting his own battles, he's also fighting to ensure tennis players get their fair share .
- Anett Kontaveit seemed to be heading towards an easy win against Shelby Rogers after bageling her in the first set. But Rogers came back to break twice in the second set and take it 6-3. Kontaveit leads the third 5-3.
- Second set. Kohlschreiber breaks again. He starts off with a 2-0 lead in the second set.
- First set to Djokovic. 6-3. Kohlschreiber fought hard, saving a set point to make it 5-3. But the World No.1 has seized back control. He wraps up the set in 38 minutes.
- Uh-Oh! Tenth seed Aryna Sabalenka has dropped the first set 2-6 against World No. 139 Magdalena Rybarikova.
- On Court 1, Simona Halep and Aliaksandra Sasnovich get their match underway. It's the first match on the court since the completion of the new roof. So lesser rain delays (not like it looks like it's going to rain).
Cori Gauff vs Venus Williams is on the same court later today. Scroll down for Order of Play.
- Felix Auger-Aliassime gets his match underway against fellow Canadian Vasek Pospisil. And with him comes a milestone, a peculiar one that signifies how old we're all getting.
- BROKEN! Djokovic, the defending champion, drops his serve in the first game.
That seems to be only a minor setback. He has broken back and disaster averted.
- Centre court action begins. Novak Djokovic vs Philipp Kohlschreiber.
- Kevin Anderson makes it through to the next round with ease. The fourth seed beats Pierre-Hughes Herbert 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.
- Stan Wawrinka eases through to the second round, with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 win over Ruben Bemelmans.
Reilly Opelka defeats Cedrik-Marcel Stebe 6-3, 7-6, 6-1.
Roberto Bautista-Agut also has it easy getting past Germany's Peter Gojoiwczyk. 6-3, 6-2, 6-3.
Feliciano Lopez is through. He beats American Marcos Giron 6-4, 6-2, 6-4.
- Elina Svitoliana bagels Daria Gavrilova in the second game to win it 7-5, 6-0. Dayana Yastramenka also makes it to the next round, with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Camila Giorgi.
- Madison Keys and Sofia Kenin are through to the next round with easy straight set wins. Keys beat Kumkhum 6-3, 6-2 and Kenin beat Astra Sharma 6-4, 6-2.
- Stan Wawrinka leads 1-0 against Ruben Bemelmans on Court 2. This is the only Grand Slam that has evaded him. The quarterfinals are the farthest he's gone at Wimbledon.
Kevin Anderson has also held serve in the first game against Pierre-Hughes Herbert, who will partner Andy Murray in the men's doubles.
- And Wimbledon 2019 is underway! Madison Keys has been broken in the first game of the first set and Thailand's Luksika Kumkhum leads 1-0. Elina Svitolina and Daria Gavrilova have also begun their match on Court 18. Sofia Kenin is leading 2-0 against Astra Sharma on Court 14.
- The first set of fixtures today see last year's runner-up Kevin Anderson, Stan Wawrinka, Elina Svitolina and Madison Keys, among others, in action.
- A brief weather update before we begin, for those anxious about rain. The English summer has been kind in London and no rains are predicted for today.
Preview
Grand Slam action has crossed the English channel and moved to the lawns of Wimbledon, London for the grass court Grand Slam. New champions could be crowned or the giants could continue their dominance; Who will win Wimbledon? Maybe Paul Fein can answer that question. Whoever wins, we're guaranteed two weeks of fun and quality action.
15-year-old Cori Gauff made it to the main draw as the youngest-ever qualifier. The American who idolises the Williams sisters is up against one of them on Day One at Wimbledon. And that's the most-awaited fixture today.
Who is Cori Gauff, why is everyone talking about her? Find out here.
India, however, will have its eyes on Prajnesh Gunneswaran - the country's top-ranked singles player. He doesn't have it easy in the first round. The big-serving Milos Ranic (seeded 15th) is his opponent on Court 12. But Prajnesh is confident of his chances.
Monday's order of play
Order of play on the main show courts on the first day of the Wimbledon championships on Monday (play starts at 1200 GMT unless stated, prefix number denotes seeding, all matches first round unless stated):
Comments
SHARE