Wimbledon Report: Day 2

Even though the wind made play a bit tricky for some players, thankfully the rain stayed away after postponing many of the matches the day before. Water was shed though from a very unlikely source.


Defending champion Serena Williams played her first Grand Slam match at Centre Court since she won the title last year. It wasn't easy as she had to gut out a 3-set win and by the end her emotions overwhelmed her. She was still tearing up when she spoke to the media after the match. And who could blame her after being unable to play for a year and getting a couple of surgeries that could've threatened her career.

Other top contenders who joined Serena in the second round include top seed Caroline Wozniacki, 3rd seed Na Li, 4th seed Victoria Azarenka, 5th seed Maria Sharapova, 8th seed Petra Kvitova, 9th seed Marion Bartoli, 11th seed Andrea Petkovic, and 18th seed Ana Ivanovic who all moved routinely in straight sets. The latter absolutely demolished American upstart Melanie Oudin. Unfortunately former Grand Slam finalists 10th seed Sam Stosur and 15th seed Jelena Jankovic weren't so lucky as they were unceremoniously bounced from the first round.


Unlike the women, no huge upsets for the men today as the top contenders including 2nd seed Novak Djokovic, 3rd seed Roger Federer, 7th seed David Ferrer, 8th seed Andy Roddick, 12th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and 24th seed Juan Martin Del Potro who all moved through with minimal drama. 5th seed Robin Soderling had to win in four sets after seemingly injuring himself in the third set. Other four-set winners include 11th seed Jurgen Melzer, 12th seed Gilles Simon, 18th seed Mikhail Youzhny, and former champion Lleyton Hewitt. The latter outlasted the younger Kei Nishikori in one of the outer courts.

The long awaited and much-anticipated rematch of The Longest Tennis Match Ever between John Isner and Nicholas Mahut lasted about 9 hours less than their historic match last year with Isner winning again, this time in 3 relatively straightforward sets. Joining Mahut on the sideline are 22nd seed Alexandr Dologopolov (beaten by former top 10 Fernando Gonzalez), 23rd seed Janko Tipsaveric (retired against Ivo Karlovic), 27th seed Marin Cilic (beaten by veteran Ivan Ljubicic), 29th seed Nikolay Davydenko, and unseeded James Blake who lost in a tight 5-set match against 32nd seed Marcos Baghdatis. 21st seed Fernando Verdasco won his close 5-set match against Radek Stepanek, 9-7 in the fifth set.

Though it's the longest day of the year, there are still some first round matches that will need to be played tomorrow due to the packed schedule today. But for the most part, it's on to the Second Round!