Jo-Wilfried Tsonga knew he was in for a tough assignment when Gilles Muller’s name was drawn against his in Wimbledon’s first round.
The Luxembourger, with a fearsome lefty serve and attacking instincts, was a player no one wanted to see in their section. Only 10-odd ranking spots off a seed himself at a tournament where he has twice previously reached the third round – and having won five of his past seven grass-court matches – Muller was arguably the toughest unseeded opponent floating in the draw.
Today he showed he's able to play really good tennis
He pushed the 13th-seeded Tsonga to the brink before the Frenchman dug out a 7-6(8), 6-7(3), 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 victory after nearly four hours on court.
“I thought, 'it's going to be difficult', and it was. He's a very good player, especially on grass and indoors. He likes that kind of surface. Today he shows that he's able to play really good tennis,” Tsonga said.
“I think maybe I played more fifth sets than him. I don't know. I have the experience, I have the confidence with me. I think it was the difference.”
It was hard to spot many differences in the first two sets, during which both men held serve consistently. Only Tsonga – the superior returner – was able to make any inroads in receiving games, but he could not convert his break-point opportunities. That was until the third set, when he finally broke on his 11th chance on his way to taking the third set.
Muller returned fire with his own service break in the fourth to send the match into a decider, but once there, Tsonga was irrepressible.
The confidence Tsonga exhibited in closing out Tuesday’s match no doubt stems partly from his recent run to the Roland Garros semi-finals. That tournament was where another seed, Jack Sock, enjoyed a breakout result in reaching the second week. Yet in the first round at the All England Club, he seemed a shadow of the player who pushed Rafael Nadal to four torrid sets in the last 16 in Paris.
Like Tsonga, Sock found himself up against a dangerous floater in the form of Sam Groth, who had won eight of his past 10 grass-court encounters. Yet it proved too high a hurdle for the No.31 seed to clear. Groth romped to a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory, his first in the main draw at Wimbledon.
With his huge serve – he holds the record for the fastest ever, at 263kph – the Australian said ahead of the tournament that he fancied his chances to do damage in the draw at SW19. With a second-round match looming against lower-ranked compatriot James Duckworth, he is a very real chance of making good on such sentiments.
“For me it’s a good win, but it was a match coming in that I felt like I could win and it's on a surface I enjoy playing on and I’ve had a good grass-court season coming in. I felt good about the whole thing,” Groth said.
“That what I want to do, and that’s what you play tennis for, is to have results at the Grand Slams. In the end it’s only one round at a Grand Slam, it’s not something to go bananas about. But I’m happy with where I’m at, and I’m happy with the win, but at the same time there’s still a big job to be done. I feel like I’m in a good place and I feel like I’ll be ready to go come Thursday.”
The winner of the Groth-Duckworth battle faces a likely third-round match with No.2 seed Roger Federer.
It was a match coming in that I felt I could win
Later on Tuesday, No.15 seed Feliciano Lopez powered into the last 64 with a clinical 6-2, 7-6(4), 6-4 victory over Belgium’s Steve Darcis.
Both players have form at Wimbledon; Lopez is a three-time quarter-finalist, while Darcis starred in 2013 with his stunning victory over Rafael Nadal, the first time in history that the Spaniard had been knocked out of a Grand Slam in the opening round, and the first time he had lost to somebody ranked so low (Darcis was listed No.135 at the time). Yet he was no match for Nadal’s compatriot Lopez, who coasted to victory in exactly two hours.
As the shadows lengthened, Lopez was followed into the second round by Frenchman Gael Monfils. Seeded No.18, Monfils ousted Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta 6-4, 6-4, 7-5.
Despite not being overly fond of grass, the Frenchman nonetheless slammed 17 aces and 42 winners en route to victory, setting up a second-round meeting with either compatriot Adrian Mannarino or Michael Berrer of Germany.
