STAN WAWRINKA LOSES ON DAY 1 WIMBLEDON 2017 • RAFA NADAL, ANDY MURRAY CRUISE

Written by: Staff on 4th July 2017

STAN WAWRINKA LOSES ON DAY 1 WIMBLEDON 2017 • RAFA NADAL, ANDY MURRAY CRUISE |

Photo by 10sBalls.com

By Ricky Dimon

Stan Wawrinka finished runner-up at the French Open, an especially impressive result given that the entire field aside from Rafael Nadal was playing for second place, but the Swiss’ grass-court season failed to produce the same success.

In fact, it didn’t even come close.

Wawrinka’s 2017 grass-court record fell to–and finished at–0-2 when he lost to Daniil Medvedev 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 in round one of Wimbledon on Monday afternoon. The world No. 3, who also lost right away at Queen’s Club to eventual champion Feliciano Lopez, saw his overall losing streak extend to three matches after getting upset by Medvedev in two hours and 13 minutes.

“For sure [they were two bad grass-court tournaments] for me,” Wawrinka reflected. “That’s clear. First one was not what I wanted. Unfortunately it’s like that. I had some problems with the knee since Queen’s, so (it) was not the way I wanted to get ready for this tournament.

“Today was tough. I was expecting to feel a little bit better. When I play a player that level, it’s difficult to win. He went for it, was playing well…. So it was a tough, tough day.”

“It’s my first Grand Slam win, so even if I [beat someone other than] Stan, it would be one of the biggest wins in my life,” Medevedev assured. “My first top-10 win; I have no words to describe this. I guess this memory will be with me forever.”

Unlike Wawrinka, Nadal had no problem making a successful surface transition. Playing his first grass-court match of 2017, the 10-time Roland Garros champ began his quest for a third Wimbledon title by destroying John Millman 6-1, 6-3, 6-2 on Monday. Nadal needed only one hour and 46 minutes to book a second-round showdown against Donald Young.

Young was cruising past Denis Istomin by two sets to one and 4-2 in the fourth when the Uzbek retired.

As for Nadal, the fourth seed cracked five aces without double-faulting, served at 67 percent, won more than half of the points even when Millman made first serves, and recorded 33 winners to just 18 unforced errors.

“(It) is obvious at the beginning I started trying to not have a lot of mistakes, playing [safer],” Nadal noted. “I finished the match hitting some great forehand. That’s the way; I need to play aggressive with my forehand. Obviously I need to serve well. That’s the only way that I can have chances to have good result here.

“(It) was a very positive match for me–a good start. And I (am) happy because I didn’t win a lot of matches last couple of years here in Wimbledon. Today I win one, and I am looking forward to play the second one.”

There will be no second match at the All-England Club not only for Wawrinka, but also for fellow seeds Nick Kyrgios, Ivo Karlovic, and Fernando Verdasco. Kyrgios retired against Pierre-Hugues Herbert with a hip injury while trailing by two sets, Karlovic was beaten by Aljaz Bedene 8-6 in the fifth, and Verdasco lost to Kevin Anderson in four sets.

Despite a lingering hip issue of his own, Andy Murray had no trouble avoiding the upset bug. The world No. 1 and defending champion kicked things off on Centre Court with a 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 rout of lucky loser Alexander Bublik.