Wimbledon was a tennis bloodbath on Day 1, and we’re only getting started

The new guard in men’s tennis– Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Zverev– failed to show up, while a 15-year-old sensation, Cori Gauff took out five-time Wimbledon champ Venus Williams. Joining the bloodletting was the WTA No. 1 just a few weeks ago, Naomi Osaka.

Day one of Wimbledon was an unusually bloody affair with four big names touted as contenders for the title– both on the men’s and women’s sides– going out as first round casualties at the outset. Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alexander Zverev, Venus Williams, and Naomi Osaka all exited shockingly early, disrupting the draw on the ATP and WTA sides of the house.

Stefanos Tsitsipas probably shouldn’t have called the Big 3 ‘boring’

Stefanos Tsitsipas was quoted calling the Big 3– Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic– dominating everything “boring” for men’s tennis last month. It was a bold statement coming from the youngest player in the Top 10, and it probably angered the tennis gods. What would have followed was a slam dunk big win by the world No. 6. But a painful loss to 34-year-old Stan Wawrinka at the French Open and now a R1 exit to Thomas Fabbiano, 6-4 3-6 6-4 6-7(8) 6-3, has the Greek 20-year-old questioning his mental attitude.

"“We’ve seen players my age, many years ago, I would like to name Rafa, Roger, seemed very mature and professional what they were doing,” said Tsitsipas in his depressing press conference.“They had consistency from a young age. They always did well tournament by tournament without major drops or inconsistency.“Something that we as the NextGen players lack, including myself as well, is this inconsistency week by week,” was his devastating conclusion."

In all fairness, 89th-ranked Fabbiano is one of a new guard of Italian gladiators on the men’s side. Italy has more players than anyone else in the ATP Top 250, and nine Italian men qualified for the main draw. Facing one of them is akin to taking on an underrated centurian soldier, I suppose.

Alexander Zverev’s latest slam loss continue to tarnish his sterling tennis record

Like so often between the two tennis stars, Germany’s Alexander Zverev equalled Tstitsipas’s disappointing loss with one of his own. The sixth seed was defeated by qualifier Jiri Vesely in four sets, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 7-5. His quarterfinal showing at this year’s French Open remains his best slam performance. After winning the ATP Finals last year, and three Masters 1000’s, the 22 year-old former world No. 3 will leave Wimbledon still searching for slam answers, even after bringing on Ivan Lendl last year to his team.

“I’m not very high on confidence right now,” said Zverev in his presser afterwards. “When I get to the important moments, I had, what, five, six break points in the fourth set alone? Can’t take any of those.”

‘Sascha’ Zverev has been dealing with personal issues that have stalled his efforts this year, including a breakup with his girlfriend, his father’s (who is also his coach) illness and hospitalization, and management issues. He now seems to be contemplating a break from the game all together.

“Everything outside the court affects you, I won’t get into details now, but the last couple of days have been very rough for me,” Zverev continued.

Venus Williams surprised by a rising teenager in the WTA

By the time the first match between Cori ‘Coco’ Gauff and Venus Williams was announced, the tennis community was already buzzing about the 15-year-old teenage star-in-the-making. Three-time Wimbledon champion Boris Becker has talked about the mental focus of the young players on the men’s side, but the young women on the other hand are having no issues rising to the ocassion. Gauff is no exception, sending Venus home packing from her most successful slam tournament, where she won five times. Gauff defeated her idol Venus, aged 39, in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4. Gauff humbly applauded the 39-year-old as she left the court after their match.

https://twitter.com/bbctennis/status/1145759999509114880

"“Honestly, I don’t really know how to feel. This is the first time I ever cried after a match. Or winning, obviously; I’ve cried after a loss before,” said an ecstatic Gauff in her press conference.“And I was just telling her that she’s so inspiring,” said Gauff about her net-exchange with Venus. “Like, I always wanted to tell her that. And even though I met her before, I guess now I have the guts to.”"

Coco Gauff is a huge talent in the USTA, which seems to be churning out young female players in droves. Gauff’s name sits alongside other hot shots to watch like Amanda Anisimova, Sofia Kenin, and Danielle Collins, along with the more experienced– but still young– Madison Keys and Sloane Stephens. There is now an embarrassment of riches on the side of the USTA in the WTA.

At 15, Gauff became the youngest player to make the main draw as a qualifier.

Osaka’s terrible year just went from bad to worse

Naomi Osaka just can’t seem to get a lucky break. Winning back-to-back slams at the U.S. and Australian Opens seems to have taken a huge toll on the world No. 2. Citing the desire to “have fun” and normalize, the 21-year-old parted ways with the coach that helped her achieve those first two slams, Sascha Baijin, Serena Williams’s former hitting partner. Her loss to Yulia Putintseva, 7-6(4), 6-2 underscores that the former world No. 1 is still figuring out how to handle the pressure at such a young age.

“The key for me was just, like, having fun, I guess, like learning how to have fun, kind of taking pressure off myself,” said Osaka in her presser. “I hope I can somehow find a way to do that.”

Osaka skipped out her press conference entirely after her first round loss at Birmingham, taking the fine from the WTA. Similarly, she cut her press conference short after her first round loss at Wimbledon.

“Can we stop now? I think I am going to cry,” Osaka said at the end of her somber, but brief presser.

Novak Djokovic defended his title with a win over Philipp Kohlschreiber, 6-3, 7-5, 6-3. He has added former Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic as his new coach.

At the moment, the women’s draw is completely open with so many contenders who have an excellent chance at the prize. Day two will feature two more of the Big 3 with Federer and Nadal playing their first round matches.

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