The first round of Wimbledon usually throws up several shocks and upsets when seeded players crash out against unseeded players and this year was no different as four seeds crashed out of the men’s draw. The biggest upsets were sixth seed Zverev who lost from a set up against big hitting Czech qualifier Veseley 4-6 6-3 6-2 7-5 and seventh seed Tsitsipas (advised 20/1) lost a nail biting five set battle against Italian veteran Fabbiano 6-4 3-6 6-4 6-7 6-3.
The other two male seeds to lose in the first round were sixteenth seed French veteran Monfils who lost from two sets to love up against compatriot Humbert and thirty second seed Lajovic lost against big hitting Hurkacz from Poland in four sets. Top seed and defending champion Djokovic had no such issues against veteran German Kolschreiber winning in straight sets and 2018 finalist and fourth seed this year Anderson showed no signs of rustiness after an injury plagued 2019 seeing off French double’s specialist Herbert in straight sets.
Other seeds who won their first round encounters were eleventh seed Medvedev who knocked out Italian veteran Lorenzi in straight sets, tenth seed Khacahnov beat Korean qualifier Kwon in a close four set battle and fifteenth seed and former Wimbledon finalist Raonic also progressed to the second round in straight sets seeing off Indian Gunneswaran in straight sets. British number one and thirtieth seed Kyle Edmunds insured the UK will have at least one male player in the second round after seeing off Spanish clay courter Munar in straight sets.
There are no less than five British male players in action today who will all attempt to impress in front of their own fans and join Edmunds in the second round. If the betting markets are a good guide, we should have at least two British players in the second round as Dan Evans is the hot favourite to knockout big hitting clay court expert Delbonis from Argentina.
British number two Cam Norrie should make the second round as he’s the favourite against veteran Istomin from Uzbekistan but it’s far from a gimme as Istomin has recorded some good wins at Wimbledon in the past. Wild Cards Jay Clarke and James Ward will do well to reach the second round against American qualifier Noah and eighteenth seed Basilashvili from Georgia and potential NextGen star Wild Card Paul Jubb aged 19 is contesting his first Wimbledon and will aim to make the headlines by beating Portuguese veteran Sousa today.
Finally, fans of the men’s game are in for a treat today if they have centre court tickets as they will get the chance to see two of the game’s all-time greats in eight time Wimbledon champion and second seed Federer and the King of Clay and two time champion Nadal, who both kick of their campaigns today against the unseeded Harris from South African and qualifier Sugita from Japan respectively.
