WIMBLEDON — The fortnight at the All England Club got underway Monday, and there was SO MUCH TENNIS, we forgive you if you missed any of it. From big-name upsets (See: Stephens, Sloane and Dimitrov, Grigor) to tightly contested matches to sweet off-the-court moments, Wimbledon’s opening day pretty much had it all.
After having to withdraw from the French Open with a right pectoral injury and being limited in practice the past several weeks, Serena Williams returned to play in a first-round match against Aranxta Rus. While she looked rusty at times, the seven-time Wimbledon champion ultimately hit her stride, yelled a few of her trademark “Come on!” at herself, and won in straight sets, 7-5, 6-3.
Despite Serena’s injury, her fastest serve on the day was recorded at 115 miles per hour, and she notched five aces. She seemed moderately pleased with her performance.
“I’m just taking it one [match] at a time,” Williams said. “I don’t think I was at my best today, but I’m practicing much better. I feel as long as I, you know, keep going, hopefully I’ll be able to [go deep in the tournament.]”
In perhaps the least surprising news of the day, the crowd seemed thrilled for Williams’ return — it had been 724 days since her last appearance after all — and gave her a warm ovation after the win.
Back to winning ways at The Championships…@serenawilliams notches up #Wimbledon win no.87 and counting against Arantxa Rus to progress to the second round pic.twitter.com/ixTQo2svSJ
– Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 2, 2018
Her older sister, Venus, also took the court Monday and needed three sets (and over two hours) to top Johanna Larsson, 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-1. After a shaky first set, Venus roared back and advanced to the second round for the first time at a Grand Slam in 2018, after uncharacteristically falling in the first rounds in Melbourne and Paris.
However, despite her win, it was what Williams said — or rather, didn’t say — during her post-match news conference that got the most attention. The five-time Wimbledon champion was terse with the media and revealed little insight into her feelings on her current playing or anything really.
We will let you judge for yourselves with a small sampling of her answers below:
How does it feel to be back at Wimbledon?
Venus: It’s great.
Is it one of your favorite tournaments on the circuit?
Venus: I think it’s everyone’s favorite tournament.
It was quite warm out there, for Britain anyway. Was it difficult at any point for you?
Venus: I live in Florida.
That was a no then?
Venus: Uh-huh.
What are your thoughts on LeBron James going to the Lakers?
Venus: I’m sure he’s happy, I guess. I don’t know. I actually don’t have any thoughts.
So there you have it. Venus next faces Alexandra Dulgheru in the second round, and will perhaps have more to say about the state of her game, or NBA free agency, at that time.
Andy Murray announced his withdrawal from Wimbledon on Sunday afternoon because of his lingering hip injury, much to the disappointment of his legions of British fans. He later posted a picture of himself giving a sad face and a thumbs down, and apologizing to anyone who was feeling let down by his absence.
He ended his post on a brighter note by writing, “If anyone needs a coach over the next couple weeks give me buzz!”
A post shared by Andy Murray (@andymurray) on
As you might imagine, more than a few people were willing to take him up on the offer.
Nick Kyrgios, who defeated Murray in his comeback match last month at Queen’s Club, was quick to respond, writing: “Let’s make it happen. I know you like a challenge.”
Alexander Zverev followed suit: “If you’ve got nothing better to do the next two weeks and feel like coaching hit me up.”
And Sloane Stephens also asked for his assistance, which she clearly could have used during her first-round loss Monday. “As you know, my coach is always asleep!!!! We need help!!!! Warm up is at 10:30, Court 5 — see you there?”
We can only assume Murray did not join Stephens on Court 5 on Monday morning. But hopefully he’ll take his other offers seriously so they don’t suffer the same fate.
Murray may not be playing, but that hasn’t stopped his mom, Judy, from making headlines. The former Fed Cup captain called for tennis to have a #MeToo moment and urged women’s players to come forward if they have experienced abuse on tour.
“I think everybody who’s on the circuit would be able to name you something that isn’t quite right,” she said in an interview with The Guardian. “It’s very easy for a young, inexperienced player to be taken advantage of. I would certainly advocate for anybody who has been the victim of abuse in that coaching relationship to speak about it.”
Madison Keys was asked about Murray’s comments after her win Monday, and she seemed to agree.
“Honestly, I feel like just the world that we live in we could use a little bit of #MeToo in every aspect of everything,” she said. “I think the biggest thing is just the awareness that it’s happening a lot and it’s happening everywhere, and just because you’re in sports or in politics or an actress, it happens across the board. It happens to a lot of people.
“I think the biggest thing is just having the conversation and listening and talking to each other. I mean, I hope that people would feel comfortable coming forward and talking about it and I think a lot of people would be very supportive of them.”
Serena wasn’t the only mom who notched a victory on Monday. Her pal Victoria Azarenka moved on to the second round with a 7-6 (4), 6-3 win over Ekaterina Alexandrova, and it was clear her son, Leo, was never far from her thoughts. Don’t believe us? Just look at her Nike kicks, and the handwritten “Leo” on them, next to a heart.
She spent a good portion of her news conference talking about him, and while all of it would make you say, “AWWWWWW,” this is all you really need to know: “He’s an amazing kid and I’m really lucky to be his mom.”
Is that the sweetest thing ever or what?
Everyone knows Roger Federer is one of the nicest guys in tennis, as well as that whole “one of the greatest players of all time” thing. And Monday, he helped prove both of those titles as he easily prevailed in his first-round match over Dušan Lajović and totally made the day of a young fan.
Spotting a sign that politely asked for his headband (now from Uniqlo!), Federer dug through his bag to find one and gave it to her. Her adorable reaction pretty much says it all.
Ask and you shall receive… ��#Wimbledon @rogerfederer pic.twitter.com/QaEVpNqenB
– Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 2, 2018
Clocking a serve at an astounding 150 miles an hour, it looked as if Monfils had just recorded the fastest serve in Wimbledon history. However, it wasn’t meant to be. Moments later, it was declared a computer error and corrected to 135 miles per hour. The 31-year-old called it “strange” at his news conference after the match, but seemed amused by it.
“It would have been nice, yeah,” he said. “But 150 is super fast… I’m happy the way I am. Still my record is 142, so it’s very cool.”
American Michael Mmoh lost in his Wimbledon debut Monday, but we have a feeling we’ll be seeing a lot of him in the near future. Born in Saudi Arabia, the 20-year-old is a son of former professional tennis player Tony Mmoh (of Nigeria) and was named after Michael Jordan. He caught up with ESPN’s Nicolas Pereira on Monday.
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ESPN’s Nicolas Pereira speaks with rising American tennis player Michael Mmoh at the 2018 Wimbledon Championship.
While sadly there were no Royal Family sightings on Monday (where you at, Duchess Meghan?) there were a number of celebrities in attendance. Pop star Ellie Goulding was probably all like, “Anything could happen, Rog!” as she took in the action on Centre Court.
“Games of Thrones” star Natalie Dormer was also in the crowd. I’ve never seen the show so I really can’t add anything else here, but she looked to be having a fun time too.
Natalie Dormer & Ellie Goulding stepped out to help kick off the #Wimbledon Championships 2018 today! https://t.co/sXSIYACquP
– JustJared.com (@JustJared) July 2, 2018