Nadal out in shock defeat as Murray keeps British hopes alive in Wimbledon.
Nadal looses in a shock defeat to Belgian Steve Darcis as British hopes are kept alive as Murray wins in straight sets to advance in to the second round at Wimbledon.
Get the strawberries and cream ready, Wimbledon opened it's gates for yet another summer of tennis yesterday, and what a day it was. Tennis is a game that has played host to some of the biggest upsets in sport history and yesterday an upset of monumental proportions took place. Nadal bowed, limped and ran off the court and out of the gates at SW19 towards the direction of sunny Spain in the first round of the famous tournament. The number five seed, who was coming in to the tournament off another French Open victory , lost in straight sets - 7-6, 7-6, 6-4 - to Steve Darcis.
The unseeded Belgian who is 135th in the world looked in disbelief as the umpire shouted Game, Set & Match to Mr. Darcis; as did the whole of the tennis world! “I believe a lot of people will talk about this match in a few years,” he predicted. “Also of me, I think.” stated the Belgian. Darcis even asked for a DVD copy of the game so he could show his daughter one day that he beat one of the greatest tennis players that ever played the game in one of the most prestigious competitions in the world.
Darcis played with a ferocity that was unexpected by most but there is no doubting that he was most definitely the best man out on the court during yesterday's match. Nadal's knee which kept him out of the game for eight months last season seemed to be coming back to bother him as he visibly limped across the court during the third set. However, Nadal refuses to blame his loss on his knee -“I’m not going to talk about my knee. The only thing I can say is that Steve played a fantastic match. Everything I could say about the knee would be an excuse, and I don’t like to do that when I lost a match like this. Steve deserves not one excuse.”.
British hopes are still alive as Murray cruised through to the second round having beaten Benjamin Becker in three straight sets that lasted just under two hours (6-4, 6-3, 6-2). Murray is now the most successful British player in Grand Slam history having won more matches than any other player. Despite this accolade, the Scotsman feels the pressure of playing to a home crowd with every eye and lens monitoring his every move - “This period is quite stressful for me but it’s also an enjoyable one. Playing at home is just something you’ve got to deal with.” With Murray winning points from 80% of his first serves and hitting 11 aces and 38 winners the number two seed looks in good shape going in two his second round match against Yen-Hsun Lu.
Picture from Wimbledon.com
Get the strawberries and cream ready, Wimbledon opened it's gates for yet another summer of tennis yesterday, and what a day it was. Tennis is a game that has played host to some of the biggest upsets in sport history and yesterday an upset of monumental proportions took place. Nadal bowed, limped and ran off the court and out of the gates at SW19 towards the direction of sunny Spain in the first round of the famous tournament. The number five seed, who was coming in to the tournament off another French Open victory , lost in straight sets - 7-6, 7-6, 6-4 - to Steve Darcis.
The unseeded Belgian who is 135th in the world looked in disbelief as the umpire shouted Game, Set & Match to Mr. Darcis; as did the whole of the tennis world! “I believe a lot of people will talk about this match in a few years,” he predicted. “Also of me, I think.” stated the Belgian. Darcis even asked for a DVD copy of the game so he could show his daughter one day that he beat one of the greatest tennis players that ever played the game in one of the most prestigious competitions in the world.
Darcis played with a ferocity that was unexpected by most but there is no doubting that he was most definitely the best man out on the court during yesterday's match. Nadal's knee which kept him out of the game for eight months last season seemed to be coming back to bother him as he visibly limped across the court during the third set. However, Nadal refuses to blame his loss on his knee -“I’m not going to talk about my knee. The only thing I can say is that Steve played a fantastic match. Everything I could say about the knee would be an excuse, and I don’t like to do that when I lost a match like this. Steve deserves not one excuse.”.
British hopes are still alive as Murray cruised through to the second round having beaten Benjamin Becker in three straight sets that lasted just under two hours (6-4, 6-3, 6-2). Murray is now the most successful British player in Grand Slam history having won more matches than any other player. Despite this accolade, the Scotsman feels the pressure of playing to a home crowd with every eye and lens monitoring his every move - “This period is quite stressful for me but it’s also an enjoyable one. Playing at home is just something you’ve got to deal with.” With Murray winning points from 80% of his first serves and hitting 11 aces and 38 winners the number two seed looks in good shape going in two his second round match against Yen-Hsun Lu.
Comments
Post a Comment