By Tony Fairbairn at Wimbledon
- Barbora Krejcikova [10] def Heather Watson [WC] 6-2 7-5
- Daniil Medvedev [3] def Arthur Fery [WC] 7-5 6-4 6-3
- Madison Keys [25] def Sonay Kartal [WC] 6-0 6-3
- Holger Rune [6] def George Loffhagen [WC] 7-6(4) 6-3 6-2
LONDON, ENGLAND – Heather Watson admitted she is ‘disappointed’ after her early exit at Wimbledon while Arthur Fery contemplates his college tennis future.
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Barbora Krejcikova [10] def Heather Watson [WC] 6-2 7-5
Heather Watson couldn’t repeat her heroics from last year’s Wimbledon as she went out to Barbora Krejcikova in straight sets. Watson reached the second week last year but was not able to emulate that this year as she was well and truly beaten by the former Roland Garros champion.
Krejcikova was aggressive from the start of the match as she broke early for a 2-0 lead and threatened another break with some deadly forehand winners. Watson couldn’t find her range on return throughout the opening set as the Brit was broke again in the eighth game as Krejcikova sealed the set 6-2 in 35 minutes.
The second set was a much closer affair with Watson producing some incredible baseline shots to solve her way through a tight service game in the second game. As often is the case at Wimbledon, Watson put the crowd through a range of emotions as the Brit had two break point opportunities in the ninth game to have the chance to serve for the match.
Despite Watson’s impressive play under pressure as well as winning the longer rallies against Krejcikova, the Brit couldn’t take her chances and sustain the high level of play that she produced early on in the set. Eventually the late pressure from Krejcikova was telling as the tenth seed converted her fourth match point to claim the match and a place in the second round
After the match Watson was brutally honest admitting she was ‘disappointed’ and ‘upset’ with the performance stating that she played worse than she did last year.
“Yeah, I mean, initially coming off the court, really upset. Felt deflated, disappointed,” Watson stated in her press conference.
“I look forward to these moments so much now. For it to be over in the first round, this is just not how I envisioned it, not what I want. But it was tough. It was always going to be a tough ask, tough match against, you know, 10 in the world, Grand Slam champion.
“But I believed. I believed I could win. Everybody’s human. We all have our days. I know how well I have been playing. But I thought she just played so well today. I thought she served so well. She just never gave me a look in. I think my returns are one of the strongest parts of my game. She was just relentless with it.
“I feel like I was playing much better this year than I was last year. You know, it just happens with draws sometimes. On the day, yeah, she was much better today. She was really, really good. Yeah, it’s disappointing, because I know how well I’m playing. But I need a little bit of luck along the way.”
Watson will look to pick herself up for the Women’s Doubles with Harriet Dart and the Mixed Doubles with Joe Salisbury.
Daniil Medvedev [3] def Arthur Fery [WC] 7-5 6-4 6-3
Arthur Fery produced an impressive performance on his Wimbledon debut but the wildcard couldn’t defeat Daniil Medvedev as he went out in straight sets. Fery aimed to put Medvedev in difficult positions on the court and come into the net to put the third seed off as he came into the net on 73 occasions during the match.
After going down an early break, Fery broke straight back at 3-3 and had half-opportunities to cause further problems on return. However Fery didn’t take those chances and Medvedev punished the Brit by breaking in the eleventh game as the third seed held to take the opening set 7-5.
Fery remained persistent as he once again recovered from a break deficit in the second set as he continued to tempt to Medvedev in engaging in net rallies. However the third seed was too strong and too consistent as the third seed broke on three more occasions to seal a place in the second round.
After the match Fery described the occasion as special and is taking the positives from the match.
“Definitely haven’t had that before, walking out like packed Court 1. That was super special,” Fery stated.
“Definitely couldn’t really get ready for that no matter what I did before. Yeah, I mean, just a great moment walking out there. Did it again after the rain delay. But, yeah, as the games went on, I felt a little more confident, yeah, slowly got going.
“Yeah, look, definitely loads of things to take away. Playing on a big court and playing against, yeah, an unbelievable player. Some of the shots he hit today I hadn’t seen before, didn’t think were possible. Definitely, yeah, widens the spectrum and the realm of things that you can do on a tennis court.
“Now that I know the top players do that, it’s just a great experience. Lots to take out of it that I can take onto my next performance, and hopefully get back on the big courts here against the big players and feel like it’s more of a normal thing.”
Fery also spoke about his future and admitted he is not sure whether he will return to college tennis at Stanford.
“Undecided yet whether I’m going to go back to college or not. I’ve just put it on hold so far,” Fery revealed.
“I’ve still got a fourth year to do. Not sure what I’m going to do yet regarding that. I’ll have to choose, decide over the summer what I do. But, yeah, experiences like that, like I had today, make me push towards going pro.
“I think I played well and handled my nerves well. I feel like it could be a pretty standard thing in the coming years to play in these tournaments on the big courts. Yeah, I feel more and more ready as the years go by to switch to the pro career.”
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A tough first round match for Sonay Kartal as the Brit was outclassed by Eastbourne champion Madison Keys. Keys was dominant in the opening set with the American hitting 12 winners and breaking on three occasions with Kartal starting nervously. However there was more attacking play from Kartal as she created four break point opportunities in the second set.
However the American was much more clutch under pressure and the early break in the fourth game was enough for Keys to reach the second round as Kartal failed to take her chances. After the match Kartal took the positives from her grass court season and has set a goal of reaching the top 150 in the world.
“I think if you compare my grass season this year compared to last year, I think I made huge strides in my game,” Kartal said in her press conference.
“For me, grass tennis is probably the surface that pushes me to do exactly what I need to do to get better. That’s to play more aggressive and flatten out a few shots. So I think the grass season for me has been very beneficial. I mean, I would be love to be in top 150. I’d say that’s definitely the goal for this year.”
Holger Rune [6] def George Loffhagen [WC] 7-6(4) 6-3 6-2
George Loffhagen tested Holger Rune in their opening round encounter before the sixth seed ran away with the win. The match started on Tuesday with Loffhagen more than holding his own against the Roland Garros quarter-finalist. Loffhagen produced attacking baseline shots as he saved six points in the early stages of the set.
As much as Loffhagen resisted Rune’s returning quality, the Brit was having trouble with producing deep returns to cause the Dane trouble. That meant the first set went to a tiebreak with Loffhagen unable to take advantage of an early mini-break. Rune produced some high-quality all-round points to take the tiebreak 7-4 as the rain hammered down and the match would resume on Wednesday.
Despite the first set being the most competitive, Loffhagen actually had the most chances in the next two sets. Loffhagen had a total of five break points against Rune as he looked to maintain the great work he produced on Tuesday. However the 22 year-old couldn’t convert his chances and Rune broke on three occasions to seal victory.
After the match Loffhagen said there were positives to take from his performance and is now focused on trying to boost his ranking.
“I definitely think it’s a great opportunity to play someone like that. I don’t normally get the chance to play someone that highly ranked, so I feel like it’s very useful to see how he plays and how someone like that plays and see where I need to improve,” Loffhagen said in his press conference.
“Yeah, I definitely think there’s positives I can take from the match. I managed to push him the first set and then just didn’t manage to take some opportunities in the second. But I definitely think there is, yeah, there’s positives I can take from it.
“I think I’m going to practice for a couple of weeks and then I’ll try and play some futures. They’ve got some futures in the UK, so I think I’ll play those. Yeah, try and improve and try and improve my ranking. Yeah, obviously see where it goes.”
READ MORE | Burrage embraces Centre Court despite defeat
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