Wimbledon on Sling TV, Day 2
(Coverage starts at 7am ET on ESPN, all times Eastern)
Yesterday saw Novak Djokovic take James Ward in straight sets, 6-0 7-6 6-4; Garbine Muguruza best Camila Giorgi, 6-2 5-7 6-4; and Roger Federer struggle to get past Guido Pella in straight sets, 7-6 7-6 6-3 – you can find the complete results here. Today we get the greatest female tennis player in the universe, as well as a hometown hero taking Centre Court.
Serena Williams (USA) [1] v Amra Sadikovic (SUI) 8:00am And so it begins: Serena Williams’ latest attempt to tie Steffi Graf’s Open Era record of 22 Grand Slam titles. Williams’ 2016 started by bailing midway through the Hopman Cup in deference to inflammation in her knees; then she fell in the finals of the Australian Open to Angelique Kerber, her first-ever loss in the finals there. Two months later, she lost in the finals again, this time to Victoria Azarenka at Indian Wells; and at the Miami Open she went down in the 4th round to Svetlana Kuznetsova. It wasn’t until May that she notched her first victory of the season, defeating fellow American Madison Keys at the Italian Open, 7-6 6-3. But at the French Open just a week later, she lost again in the finals, this time to Garbiñe Muguruza.
Amra Sadikovic retired from professional tennis in 2014, just days after her 25th birthday, because it was no longer fun and she was struggling financially. But she returned 13 months later, and it appears to have been the right move. Just a couple of weeks ago she achieved her the highest ranking of her career, #148, and now she finds herself in her first Grand Slam.
Liam Broady (GBR) v Andy Murray (GBR) [2], 8:00am
Andy Murray – who two years ago got flack for his support for Scottish independence – represents a chance in the wake of the Brexit vote for Great Britain to come together, to reunite, to… whatever, man, it’s just tennis. Murray opened 2106 with a finals loss to Djokovic, fell in the 3rd round at Indian Wells and the Miami Open, lost to Nadal in the semis at Monte Carlo, took another finals loss to Djokovic at Madrid, and then beat Djokovic to win the Italian Open, only to lose to him in the finals at the French, before defeating Raonic at the Queen’s Club Championships last week. Murray has two Grand Slam titles to his credit, winning Wimbledon in 2013 – the first Briton to take the men’s singles title since fashion icon Fred Perry in 1936, and the US Open in 2012.
Murray’s 1st round opponent is fellow Brit Liam Broady, who at the age of 22 is already ranked #7 – in Britain. Globally, however, he’s peaked at #159. Broady does have some experience on the big stage, having been runner-up for the junior singles title at Wimbledon in 2012, and at the US Open in 2012, and he won junior doubles titles at Wimbledon in 2010, and at the Australian Open in 2012.
Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) v Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) [13] 8:00am Caroline Wozniacki was, for a time, the #1 women’s tennis player in the world, after a win in the third round of the China Open catapulted her past Serena Williams into the to spot, making her one of the few to achieve it without winning a Grand Slam event. Last year was the fifth time she’d played Wimbledon, and each time she’s lost in the fourth round.
Svetlana Kuznetsova, 31, reached #2 in the world in 2007, but has since settled in at #14. She won the US Open in 2004, and the French in 2009, but since then hasn’t made it past the fourth round at a Grand Slam event, most recently doing so at this year’s French Open. Wozniacki has won 6 of the 11 times they’ve met, including both matches on grass,
Below is the rest of Tuesday’s matchups, listed by seeding, including the likes of Agnieszka Radwanska, Stan Wawrinka, Roberta Vinci, and Richard Gasquet…
Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) [3] v Kateryna Kozlova (UKR) 11:30am
Taylor Fritz (USA) v Stan Wawrinka (SUI) [4] 8:00am
Alison Riske (USA) v Roberta Vinci (ITA) [6] 11:30am
Richard Gasquet (FRA) [7] v Aljaz Bedene (GBR) 11:30am
Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL) v Belinda Bencic (SUI) [7] TBD/Afternoon
Dominic Thiem (AUT) [8] v Florian Mayer (GER) 11:30am
Petra Kvitova (CZE) [10] v Sorana Cirstea (ROU) 8:00am
Ivan Dodig (CRO) v Tomas Berdych (CZE) [10] 11:30am
Timea Bacsinszky (SUI) [11] v Luksika Kumkhum (THA) 11:30am
Inigo Cervantes (ESP) v Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) [12] 11:30am
Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) [14] v Jordan Thompson (AUS) 11:30am
Nick Kyrgios (AUS) [15] v Radek Stepanek (CZE) 11:30am
Monica Puig (PUR) v Johanna Konta (GBR) [16] 8:00am
John Isner (USA) [18] v Marcos Baghdatis (CYP) 11:30am
Sloane Stephens (USA) [18] v Shuai Peng (CHN) 11:30am
Fernando Verdasco (ESP) v Bernard Tomic (AUS) [19] 11:30am
Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) [19] v Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (CRO) 11:30am
Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE) v Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) [21] 11:30am
Rajeev Ram (USA) v Feliciano Lopez (ESP) [22] 11:30am
Alexander Zverev (GER) [24] v Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA) 11:30am
Anett Kontaveit (EST) v Barbora Strycova (CZE) [24] TBD/Afternoon
Tristan Lamasine (FRA) v Viktor Troicki (SRB) [25] 11:30am
Benoit Paire (FRA) [26] v Franko Skugor (CRO) 11:30am
Coco Vandeweghe (USA) [27] v Kateryna Bondarenko (UKR) 11:30am
Cagla Buyukakcay (TUR) v Caroline Garcia (FRA) [30] 11:30am
Aliaksandra Sasnovich (BLR) v Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) [31] 11:30am
Dmitry Tursunov (RUS) v Joao Sousa (POR) [31] 11:30am
Lucas Pouille (FRA) [32] v Marius Copil (ROU) 11:30am
Andrea Petkovic (GER) [32] v Nao Hibino (JPN) 11:30am
Heather Watson (GBR) v Annika Beck (GER) 11:30am
Stephane Robert (FRA) v Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG) 11:30am
Eugenie Bouchard (CAN) v Magdalena Rybarikova (SVK) 11:30am
John Millman (AUS) v Albert Montanes (ESP) 11:30am
Pauline Parmentier (FRA) v Katerina Siniakova (CZE) 11:30am
Horacio Zeballos (ARG) v Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) 11:30am
Vasek Pospisil (CAN) v Albert Ramos-Vinolas (ESP) 11:30am
Donald Young (USA) v Leonardo Mayer (ARG) 11:30am
Evgeniya Rodina (RUS) v Lesia Tsurenko (UKR) 11:30am
Daria Gavrilova (AUS) v Qiang Wang (CHN) 11:30am
Benjamin Becker (GER) v Facundo Bagnis (ARG) 11:30am
Tara Moore (GBR) v Alison Van Uytvanck (BEL) 11:30am
Monica Niculescu (ROU) v Aleksandra Krunic (SRB) 11:30am
Luke Saville (AUS) v Dennis Novikov (USA) 11:30am
Julia Boserup (USA) v Tatjana Maria (GER) 11:30am
Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE) v Alexander Kudryavtsev (RUS) 11:30am
Elena Vesnina (RUS) v Tamira Paszek (AUT) 11:30am
Albano Olivetti (FRA) v Matthew Barton (AUS) 11:30am
Federico Delbonis (ARG) v Fabio Fognini (ITA) 11:30am
Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) v Johanna Larsson (SWE) 11:30am
Christina McHale (USA) v Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) 11:30am
Yulia Putintseva (KAZ) v Marina Melnikova (RUS) 11:30am
Jiri Vesely (CZE) v Igor Sijsling (NED) 11:30am
Kristyna Pliskova (CZE) v Ying-Ying Duan (CHN) 11:30am
Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ) v Martin Klizan (SVK) 11:30am
Karin Knapp (ITA) v Ana Konjuh (CRO) 11:30am
Dusan Lajovic (SRB) v Dustin Brown (GER) 11:30am
Katie Swan (GBR) v Timea Babos (HUN) 11:30am
Taro Daniel (JPN) v Juan Monaco (ARG) 11:30am
Marcel Granollers (ESP) v Victor Estrella Burgos (DOM) 11:30am
Gastao Elias (POR) v Radu Albot (MDA) 11:30am
Mandy Minella (LUX) v Anna Tatishvili (USA) 11:30am
Watch Wimbledon on ESPN Tuesday at 7am by subscribing to the Best of Live TV package..
All stats courtesy of Wimbledon, ATP World Tour and ESPN