Wimbledon 2013: Talking points from Day 3

The dethroned King

Roger Federer’s 2nd round defeat at Wimbledon signalled the end of an era

It was going to take an extraordinarily stunning upset to outdo Rafael Nadal‘s 1st round exit on Monday but Roger Federer‘s second round exit to Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky did just that. The statistics speak for themselves of just how significant, historic and shocking this result is. It was the first time he had failed to reach a quarter-final of a Grand Slam since the 2004 French Open and his earliest Grand Slam defeat since a year before that. It was the first time he had lost to a player outside the top 100 in past eight years. It was his earliest defeat at Wimbledon in 11 years when he lost to Mario Ancic and the worst defeat for a defending champion in 10 years.

What was the most perplexing thing was that Federer simply couldn’t get to the grips with the revolutionary serve and volley tactics employed by Stakhovsky. He tried passing him, trapping him, forcing him and even hurting him but they didn’t work. The Ukrainian served brilliantly and volleyed at a level that is almost extinct on the tour at the current time. But even so, even now with his powers diminished, you still expected Federer to come through. But the volleys and forehands which he would have so coolly dispatched even two years ago, fell long or into the middle of the court for Stakhovsky to put away.

For me, the match was summed up in the final two points. On the match point, Federer produced a stunning return and passing shot. The crowd sensed the King was about turn the corner to victory. But in the very next point where both men played it safe, Federer was the one who fired an innocuous backhand into the tramlines, handing over his crown with a whimper. Many fans, me included, were left speechless. This simply doesn’t happen to Federer! But we have to get used to the fact that for the first time in 11 years, Roger Federer won’t be playing in the second week of a Grand Slam.

Black Wednesday

Wednesday saw a giant-killing spree at Wimbledon with the likes of Federer, Tsonga, Sharapova, Azarenka knocked out early

In my 13 years of watching tennis, I have never seen a crazier day in my life. In the singles alone, seven players withdrew with injuries, two extra women lost because injuries sustained in the match and a further six ‘healthy’ seeds across the draws were knocked out. Names like Federer, Tsonga, Cilic, Isner and Benneteau in the men’s and Sharapova, Azarenka, Jankovic, Ivanovic, Wozniacki, Cirstea and Safarova in the women’s are now trying to book much earlier flights home than anticipated.

It was the most injury hit second round day in the Championship’s long history and it was simply a surreal experience checking Twitter as one after the other, reports came through of more and more players withdrawing or being knocked out. It wasn’t just the luckless nine but names like Federer, Jankovic and Ivanovic were simply bettered on the day by players who capitalised on a bad day at the office for the giants, making their first impression on a hopefully glittering career or just playing out of their skin. All of these highly unlikely scenarios came together to create an surreal atmosphere more reminiscent of the Twilight Zone than the third day of the most prestigious Grand Slam in the world.

Are these courts dangerous?

Only Azarenka (in the pic above) and Stepanek’s injuries were a result of the surface. The rest don’t have a great case for that excuse

With all these withdrawals, slips and upsets there are bound to be questions regarding the state of the hallowed courts of SW19. Azarenka, Wozniacki and Sharapova were particularly vocal on the issue claiming the courts have regressed badly from last year and the doom mongers will immediately point to the withdrawal of the major names as empirical evidence to back them up. But are we missing something?

With so little grass court tennis scheduled over the year and with the court surfaces becoming more and more similar, players have tried to play too much in the mould of a clay or hard court. Particularly on the women’s side, the game has become so one-dimensional, it’s easy to understand why so many are struggling to stay upright on the slippery surface. On the chief destroyer Court 2, did the grass court ‘expert’ Lleyton Hewitt jump to criticise the court for his loss at the start of the day? No, he couldn’t see any difference to the court from the previous year. And if you look closely, only Azarenka’s and Stepanek’s injuries were directly caused by the grass courts. The others were niggles that were picked up by players over the gruelling season or freak occurrences like Isner and Darcis. So maybe the players should stop blaming the courts and actually try to master the art of gliding on a grass court if they want to do better next year.