Wimbledon on Sling TV
(Coverage starts at 7am ET on ESPN, all times Eastern)
Wimbledon will be played for the first time in a long time without two of the sport’s brightest stars, Maria Sharapova and Rafael Nadal. Sharapova is awaiting an appeal of her 2-year ban from tennis for doping, and has decided to spend her newfound free time by enrolling in Harvard Business School, while Nadal is nursing the wrist injury that forced him to drop out of the French Open. But enough about who’s not playing, here’s a look at today’s Center Court action.
Novak Djokovic (SRB) [#1] v James Ward (GBR), 8:00am
Rarely has men’s tennis been so dominated by a single figure as it is now by Novak Djokovic, winner of the won last five Grand Slam titles, and the first player to hold all four simultaneously – the “Nole Slam” – since Rod Laver in ‘69. So far this year Djokovic beat Nadal to win the Qatar Open, took Andy Murray in straight sets to win the Australian Open, beat Milos Raonic 6-2 6-0 for the BNP Paribas Open title, won Miami Open over Kei Nishikori 6-3 6-3, beat Murray in the finals the Madrid Open, and overcame an opening set loss to beat Murray once again in the finals at the French Open. Djokovic has already 3 Wimbledon titles, and 12 Grand Slam titles overall, just two behind Rafael Nadal and Pete Sampras, five back of Roger Federer.
James Ward, 29, is the son of a black cab driver. He was a member of the 2015 Davis Cup team that won the title, and is playing in his 11th Grand Slam tournament, with a record of 3-10 in his previous appearances. His best showing was at last year’s Wimbledon, where he made it to the 3rd round before losing 6-4 3-6 2-6 6-3 8-6 to Vasek Pospisil. Dude doesn’t have a chance, but it’d be quite a story.
Camila Giorgi (ITA) v Garbine Muguruza (ESP) [#2], 8:00am
Garbiñe Muguruza made it to the finals at Wimbledon last year, losing 6-4 6-4 to Serena Williams, but would get her revenge 11 months later, by defeating Williams at this year’s French Open. Just 22, she’s already being hailed as the possible “next face of women’s tennis,” an unofficial crown that may soon be up for grabs, what with Williams’ tough year, and Sharapova’s suspension.
Camila Giorgi, 24, made her pro debut in 2006, but has never made it past the 4th round at a Grand Slam event, ner most recent appearances being a 2nd round defeat at the hands of Muguruza at this year’s French Open. Giorgi did manage to beat Muguruza at the 2014 Connecticut Open, and has some impressive wins on her resume, having beaten former #1’s Caroline Wozniacki, Maria Sharapova, and Victoria Azarenka. She is, by the standards of pro tennis, rather short, coming in at 5’ 6”, given up 6 inches to Muguruza.
Roger Federer (SUI) [3] v Guido Pella (ARG), 8:00am
Roger Federer has set the bar so high that despite being ranked #3 in the world and seeded #3 at Wimbledon, there’s an undeniable sense the show is over. He’s played in 6 tournaments this season, and made the finals just once, at the Brisbane International, where he lost in straight sets to Milos Raonic. Thus far this season, he’s missed three tournaments due to knee surgery, one to a stomach virus and two to his aging back. Now 34, Federer won the last of his 17 Grand Slam title at Wimbledon in 2012, defeating Murray in the finals. However, Federer has given himself every chance to make a run, having skipped the French Open altogether so he could focus on getting healthy for Wimbledon.
Guido Pella is a 26-year-old Argentine who’s never been ranked higher than #39, and is currently sitting at #51. This is his 9th career Grand Slam event, and he’s made it to the 2nd round three times, including at this year’s Australian and French Opens.
Below is the rest of Monday’s matchups, listed by seeding, including the likes of Venus Williams, Angelique Kerber, Kei Nishikori, Milos Raonic, Marin Cilic, and Madison Keys.
Laura Robson (GBR) v Angelique Kerber (GER) [4] 8:00am
Simona Halep (ROU) [5] v Anna Karolina Schmiedlova (SVK) 6:30am
Sam Groth (AUS) v Kei Nishikori (JPN) [5] 8:00am
Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP) v Milos Raonic (CAN) [6] 6:30am
Venus Williams (USA) [8] v Donna Vekic (CRO) 8:00am
Marin Cilic (CRO) [9] v Brian Baker (USA) 6:30am
Laura Siegemund (GER) v Madison Keys (USA) [9] 6:30am
David Goffin (BEL) [11] v Alexander Ward (GBR) 6:30am
Shuai Zhang (CHN) v Carla Suarez Navarro (ESP) [12] 6:30am
Dudi Sela (ISR) v David Ferrer (ESP) [13] 6:30am
Samantha Stosur (AUS) [14] v Magda Linette (POL) 6:30am
Karolina Pliskova (CZE) [15] v Yanina Wickmayer (BEL) TBD/Afternoon
Janko Tipsarevic (SRB) v Gilles Simon (FRA) [16] 6:30am
Naomi Broady (GBR) v Elina Svitolina (UKR) [17] 6:30am
Gael Monfils (FRA) [17] v Jeremy Chardy (FRA) 6:30am
Denis Istomin (UZB) v Kevin Anderson (RSA) [20] 6:30am
Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) [21] v Pierre-Hugues Herbert (FRA) 6:30am
Jelena Jankovic (SRB) [22] v Stefanie Voegele (SUI) 6:30am
Ekaterina Alexandrova (RUS) v Ana Ivanovic (SRB) [23] 6:30am
Borna Coric (CRO) v Ivo Karlovic (CRO) [23] 6:30am
Irina-Camelia Begu (ROU) [25] v Carina Witthoeft (GER) 6:30am
Jelena Ostapenko (LAT) v Kiki Bertens (NED) [26] TBD/Afternoon
Jack Sock (USA) [27] v Ernests Gulbis (LAT) 6:30am
Lucie Safarova (CZE) [28] v Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) 6:30am
Lukas Rosol (CZE) v Sam Querrey (USA) [28] 6:30am
Victoria Duval (USA) v Daria Kasatkina (RUS) [29] 6:30am
Pablo Cuevas (URU) [29] v Andrey Kuznetsov (RUS) 6:30am
Evgeny Donskoy (RUS) v Alexandr Dolgopolov (UKR) [30] 6:30am
Kyle Edmund (GBR) v Adrian Mannarino (FRA) 6:30am
Sabine Lisicki (GER) v Shelby Rogers (USA) 6:30am
Daniel Evans (GBR) v Jan-Lennard Struff (GER) 6:30am
Diego Schwartzman (ARG) v Robin Haase (NED) 6:30am
Danka Kovinic (MNE) v Mona Barthel (GER) 6:30am
Saisai Zheng (CHN) v Maria Sakkari (GRE) 6:30am
Zarina Diyas (KAZ) v Anna-Lena Friedsam (GER) 6:30am
Andreas Seppi (ITA) v Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP) 6:30am
Malek Jaziri (TUN) v Steve Johnson (USA) 6:30am
Nicolas Almagro (ESP) v Rogerio Dutra Silva (BRA) 6:30am
Margarita Gasparyan (RUS) v Denisa Allertova (CZE) 6:30am
Teliana Pereira (BRA) v Varvara Lepchenko (USA) 6:30am
Misaki Doi (JPN) v Louisa Chirico (USA) 6:30am
Lara Arruabarrena (ESP) v Olga Govortsova (BLR) 6:30am
Nicole Gibbs (USA) v Kirsten Flipkens (BEL) 6:30am
Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) v Teymuraz Gabashvili (RUS) 6:30am
Anastasija Sevastova (LAT) v Francesca Schiavone (ITA) 6:30am
Paolo Lorenzi (ITA) v Lukas Lacko (SVK) 6:30am
Thomaz Bellucci (BRA) v Ruben Bemelmans (BEL) 6:30am
Jana Cepelova (SVK) v Mariana Duque-Marino (COL) 6:30am
Samantha Crawford (USA) v Paula Kania (POL) 6:30am
Julien Benneteau (FRA) v Illya Marchenko (UKR) 6:30am
Santiago Giraldo (COL) v Gilles Muller (LUX) 6:30am
Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR) v Yoshihito Nishioka (JPN) 6:30am
Sara Errani (ITA) [20] v Patricia Maria Tig (ROU) 6:30am
Irina Falconi (USA) v Marina Erakovic (NZL) 6:30am
Damir Dzumhur (BIH) v Denis Kudla (USA) 6:30am
Alize Cornet (FRA) v Polona Hercog (SLO) 6:30am
Bjorn Fratangelo (USA) v Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) 6:30am
Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) v Julia Goerges (GER) 6:30am
Kurumi Nara (JPN) v Madison Brengle (USA) 6:30am
Brydan Klein (GBR) v Nicolas Mahut (FRA) 6:30am
Ricardas Berankis (LTU) v Marcus Willis (GBR) 6:30am
Watch Wimbledon on ESPN Monday at 7am by subscribing to the Best of Live TV package..
All stats courtesy of Wimbledon, ATP World Tour and ESPN