There's nothing like seeing the pristine green grass at the start of the Championships, before the baseline wear and tear begins to show.
Wimbledon day one went as expected: the big-name seeds cruised through and it rained.
Rafael Nadal's title defence got underway against 33-year-old American Michael Russell. Russell
was always going to receive a good hiding but he did pull off a couple of delightful shots, including some spectacular diving volleys during one point. After a slow start, the Spaniard disposed of 90th ranked Russell in straight sets.
The Sun reported that "Andy Murray survived a scare of his own to send a frightening message to his Wimbledon title rivals." Frighteningly, Murray lost the first set against Daniel Gimeno-Traver (world No 59). But the Scot fought back and won the last 15 games of the match to win 4-6, 6-3, 6-0, 6-0.
Venus Williams easily saw off Uzbekistan's Akgul Amanmuradova 6-3, 6-1, as the American's sartorial crimes on the tennis circuit continued. Williams appeared wearing a bizarre white onesie, complete with golden hotpants underneath. Which probably was enough to make the Wimbledon traditionalists cringe.
Roger Federer took to his Facebook account to voice his displeasure at the English weather: "Rain, Rain go away it almost time to start to play!" Five-time Wimbledon winner-turned style guru Bjorn Borg has backed the Fed Express to win his seventh title, regardless of poor status updates.
"I pick Federer because the way he played the French Open. I have never seen Roger play better clay court tennis than he did in Paris," the Swedish maestro said.
Kimiki Date-Krumm, aged 40, became the second-oldest player in Wimbledon history to win a singles match last night when she downed Britain's Kate O'Brien. She's still got some way to go for the record though - Martina Navratilova posted a win at the age of 47.
"I am very happy because it was the first time I've won at Wimbledon since 1996. I reached the semi-finals that year," Date-Krumm reminisced, before slipping off for a nap.
- HERALD ONLINE
