Bite-sized highlights from day 2 at the Olympic tennis
Story of the day
The rain. There were shades of The Championships as rain struck play on the second day of the Olympic tennis. Delaying the start of the tennis on the outside courts, the rain ceased for a while, allowing the likes of Novak Djokovic to get most of the way through his first set, before returning, and in torrential fashion. The Centre Court roof stayed on all day long, the groundsmen forced to sweep a lot of dust off the baseline by the end of the day.
Living up to expectation
Andy Murray’s 6-3, 6-3 win over Stanislas Wawrinka was the epitome of consummate, the Scot getting over some early slips and a flickering scoreboard to win his first-ever match in an Olympics.
The upset
Julia Goerges has long been seen as a future world-beater, and she proved it today, upsetting second seed and Wimbledon runner-up Agnieszka Radwanska in three gripping sets under the roof. Taking the first 7-5, she found herself pegged back in the second as Radwanska rallied to take the tie-break, and went a break up in the third. But the German fought back, breaking at the death to win the match 7-5, 6-7(5), 6-4.
Wasting no time
Maria Sharapova. The Russian barely put a foot wrong during her 6-2, 6-0 win over Shahar Peer, her first win at the Olympic tennis.
Marathon matches
There were two hard-fought wins for Novak Djokovic and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, both of whom dropped the first set of their matches against Fabio Fognini and Thomaz Bellucci respectively.
Quick wins for
David Ferrer, over Vasek Pospisil, Kei Nishikori, over Bernard Tomic, Jarkko Nieminen, over Somdev Devvarman, Anna Tatishvili, over Stephanie Vogt, Timea Babos, over Galina Voskoboeva, Yaroslava Shvedova, over Simona Halep, and Li and Zhang, over Dulko and Suarez, in the only completed doubles match of the day.
Delayed overnight
Nikolay Davydenko, leading Radek Stepanek 6-4, 1-0, Ons Jabeur leading Sabine Lisicki 4-3, Varvara Lepchenko and Veronica Cepede Royg at one set all,
Didn’t even get started…
Venus Williams v Sara Errani, David Goffin v Juan Monaco, Victoria Azarenka v Irina-Camelia Begu, Andy Roddick v Martin Klizan, Petra Cetkovska v Angelique Kerber, Federer and Wawrinka v Nishikori and Soeda, Zheng Jie v Nadia Petrova, Radwanska & Radwanska v Cibulkova and Hantuchova, Berdych and Stepanek v Bracciali and Seppi, Dmitry Tursunov v Feliciano Lopez, Nestor and Pospisil v Tecau and Ungur, Chaknashvili and Tatishvili v Klepac and Srebotnik, Djokovic and Troicki v Brunstrom and Lindstedt, Tatsuma Ito v Milos Raonic, Bury and Mirnyi v Bhupathi and Bopanna, Maria Kirilenko v Marian Duque-Marino, Marin Cilic v Jurgen Melzer, Hlavackova and Hradecka v Babos and Szavay, Cilic and Dodig v Cabal and Giraldo, Richard Gasquet v Robin Haase, Baltacha and Keothavong v Goerges and Gronefeld, Haase and Rojer v Paes and Vardhan, Laura Robson v Lucie Safarova, Marina Erakovic v Aleksandra Wozniak, Kas and Petzschner v Davydenko and Youzhny, Heather Watson v Silvia Soler Espinosa, Lleyton Hewitt v Sergiy Stakohvsky, Cirstea and Halep v Williams and Williams, Vishnu Vardhan v Blaz Kavcic, Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez v Polona Hercog, Medina Garrigues and Parra Santonja v Pennetta and Schiavone, Tipsarevic and Zimonjic v Klizan and Lacko.
Oddity of the day
The Centre Court scoreboard. It has a sort of strobe effect going on for a while as it flickered on and off.
First for…
Hungarian Timea Babos becomes the first alternate to win, beating Kazakh Galina Voskoboeva in the first round.
Famous face
Greg Norman was spotted in the front row of the Olympic Family box. The golfer was, of course, married to Chris Evert for a short while, so clearly likes to watch a bit of tennis.
The London 2012 Olympic tennis is taking place at Wimbledon. Visit the ITF Olympics site for full scores, draws and the London 2012 site for video content, venue and schedule information.
