Ivanovic out, Djokovic & Federer up and running

The grass is looking gorgeously green, the sun is sometimes shining and there’s Pimms flowing through the streets of London; yes, it’s Wimbledon time. There was plenty to capture the imagination on the first day of The Championships, so we thought we’d round up the biggest stories.

The women’s draw…
You know when something is a shock but it’s also kind of not? Well, Ana Ivanovic crashing out of a Grand Slam to someone you’ve probably never heard of falls into that category. Yes Ana, who has been struggling with a wrist injury since the WTA event in Mallorca, went down to qualifier Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-2 7-5 in just 70 minutes.

“It was very tough,” Ana said post Match. “I mean, since two weeks I struggle with my right wrist. It was very hard to accelerate on my forehand.”

Garbine Muguruza was expecting a tough match against Camila Giorgi on Centre Court, and the 2015 runner-up got exactly that. The Spanish No.2 seed cruised through the first set, before the sparky Italian rediscovered form. Two hours 33 minutes later, Muguruza sealed a spot in the second round, with a 6-2 5-7 6-4 victory.

No.9 seed Venus Williams was another seed staring down the barrel of a tricky Day 1 match. The oldest lady in the draw, Venus beat a spirited Donna Vekic 7-6(3) 6-4. “I felt like I couldn’t hit a winner against her today, she ran everything down and played amazing tennis,” Venus said as she eyed up a second round meeting with Maria Sakkari.

Elsewhere, Angelique Kerber made short work of injury-plagued Briton Laura Robson, winning 6-2 6-2; No.5 seed Simona Halep downed Schmiedlova 6-4 6-1; Madison Keys ousted Siegemund 6-3 6-1; and Sam Stosur marched on, owning Magda Linette 7-5 6-3.

On the men’s side…
Start as you mean to go on – that’s the rule to live your life by. And that’s exactly what Novak Djokovic did, winning the first nine games of the match on his way to a routine three-set win over James Ward. Djokovic, who is on course for a unique Golden Slam in 2016, was happy with his performance in the 6-0 7-6(3) 6-4 win.

“This is probably the most unique experience in tennis playing as the defending champion in Wimbledon – untouched grass, first match, 1 o’clock Monday,” Djokovic said. “It’s really special to feel this tradition and history, to come back to the cradle of our sport. It was a wonderful experience.”

While he got it done in straight sets, it wasn’t always comfortable for Roger Federer back on Centre Court. The Great One openly admitted that he was a little way off his best during a 7-6(5) 7-6(3) 6-3 win over Guido Pella that enraptured the early evening Centre Court crowd. He’ll play unheralded Brit Marcus Willis, who is on a fairytale run that started at Wimbledon pre-qualifying.

“I felt great. Walking out I was telling myself how nice it is to be back here – I’ve worked so hard for it since February,” Federer said. “We’ll see if I’m fully fit – nobody knows, not even me.”

It’s a loaded side of the draw, and one man that nobody wants to face on grass is Milos Raonic. The Canadian sledgehammer, who has enlisted the help of John McEnroe during the Wimbledon fortnight, got it done in straight sets against talented Spaniard Pablo Carenno-Busta 7-6(4) 6-2 6-4.

Elsewhere, Kei Nishikori wandered into the second round, downing big serving sam Groth 6-4 6-3 7-5; Jeremy Chardy ousted fellow Frenchman Gael Monfils in a five-set epic; No.13 seed David Ferrer walloped Dudi Sela 6-2 6-1 6-1; and Grigor Dimitrov managed to win a match, beating Fratangelo 6-3 6-4 6-2.

Ones to watch:
In short, all of it. It’s a jam-packed day as the top half of the women’s draw kicks off, along with the bottom half of the men’s.

If you’re looking for upsets, keep an eye on Petra Kvitova against Sorana Cirstea, Monica Puig against Johanna Konta, Thiem v Mayer and Richard Gasquet against Aljaz Bedene.

If you’re looking for intriguing matches Nick Kyrgios v Radek Stepanek, Fernando Verdasco v Bernard Tomic and Caroline Wozniacki v Sveta Kuznetsova should do the trick.

And if you’re looking for ‘I’d bet my leg she won’t lose that’ kind of matches, Serena v Amra Sadikovic (yep, us neither) fits squarely into that bracket.