The first round of Wimbledon always throws up surprises with seeded players being knocked out by relative unknowns and those lower in the rankings.
Whether rising stars or seasoned pros dropping down the rankings, the courts of SW19 are often a great leveller for the unseeded players.
This year's draw has revealed some interesting first round ties and some seeds have been handed far more difficult ties than they would like. I've picked three who would probably have liked an easier start to the tournament than they are likely to get.
Gentlemen's Singles:
Marcel Granollers (30) vs Nicolas Mahut
Doubles specialist Marcel Granollers could be in danger of an early exit after being drawn against Frenchman Nicolas Mahut. The two men have never played head to head before so there is no past form to go on, but the Spaniard's past form at Wimbledon is poor. In seven attempts, he has only been past the opening round twice - and on both of those occasions he was eliminated in the second round. His best results consistently come on clay, whereas Mahut's favoured surface is grass. He is already part of Wimbledon folklore for his role in the longest match in history with John Isner in 2010. He comes into the tournament in relatively poor form, having been knocked out in several tournaments by lower ranked players, but he has the grass court technique and smarts to unsettle Granollers and make the next round.
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| Marathon man Nicolas Mahut (@WilsonTennis) |
Andreas Seppi (25) vs Leonardo Mayer
Argentina's Leonardo Mayer is in danger of being one of the forgotten players of his generation having shown much promise early in his career. He has yet to better his achievements from 2010 in any of the Grand Slams, with his best performance coming in the US Open where he reached the third round. This year however he has been unlucky, with matches against members of the 'big four' in the two Grand Slams - Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal knocked him out of the Australian and French Opens respectively. All three of his matches againt Seppi have been losing efforts on clay, but the Italian hasn't been in great form, with surprise losses against the likes of Michael Llodra, Donald Young and Denis Istomin since the turn of the year. He should have too much for Mayer, but it wouldn't be the first time he has fallen to supposed lesser opposition.
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| Can Andreas Seppi tough it out over Leo Mayer? (@WeAreTennis) |
Ladies' singles:
Sloane Stephens (19) vs Maria Kirilenko
Russia's Maria Kirilenko continues her long comeback from a knee injury against Sloane Stephens in the first round at Wimbledon. She will be hoping for an improvement on last year, where she was eliminated in the first round by Laura Robson, a match which saw her lose her top ten ranking. It was the beginning of a rapid slide down the listings for Kirilenko, whose injury problems destroyed the latter half of last year and caused her to miss the Australian Open. She had shown much promise in the first half of 2013, recording victories over top tier players including Sabine Lisicki and Petra Kvitova on her way to the top ten for the first time. She has the talent to beat Stephens, but if her troublesome knee will allow her to do so is another matter. The American - six years Kirilenko's junior - has won the only previous meeting between the two. She made the quarter finals last year before losing to eventual winner Marion Bartoli but arguably did not come up against an opponent of Kirilenko's quality in the four rounds before that game.
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| Can Maria Kirilenko upset Sloane Stephens? (@WTA) |
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