Court report: Tomic's tantrum sums up Aussie men's worst Wimbledon showing since 1938
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UPDATED:
22:31 GMT, 26 June 2012
Defeats for Lleyton Hewitt, Bernard Tomic and Matthew Ebden mean there are no Australian men in the second round here for the first time since 1938. And defeat was not exactly handled with dignity. Last year’s quarter-finalist Tomic smashed two rackets and was roundly booed as he lost in four sets to Belgium’s David Goffin.
Miserable as a bandicoot: Bernard Tomic loses his rag
Home comforts
Wimbledon village offers a host of
eateries for the players after a hard day’s work. Andy Murray likes
sushi or Pizza Express and Andy Roddick has a a favourite Thai
restaurant. But Heather Watson celebrated her inaugural win at SW19 with
homemade food. ‘I’m staying with a family nearby and they cook the most
amazing meals,’ Heather told Court Report.
Joy for George
George
Morgan, 19, thought qualifying for the men’s doubles would be the
highlight of his fortnight. But the 2011 junior doubles champion had the
honour of being Roger Federer’s hitting partner. Morgan looked assured
throughout and said after: ‘It was great.’
A big hand: Roger Federer gets to grips with George Morgan
Strife of Brian Brian
Baker has had to wait a while for his Wimbledon debut — but he made it
count. The 27-year-old stopped playing in 2005 and had a string of
operations for various injuries. ‘I had two left hip surgeries, one
right hip surgery, elbow reconstruction and then sports hernia surgery,’
said the American. But he started playing again last year and beat Rui
Machado in straight sets.Special Kei
Scrum of the day was on Court 14, where a significant percentage of Japan’s population gathered to watch their golden boy Kei Nishikori. The exciting No 19 seed duly delivered, seeing off Mikhail Kukushkin in straight sets. That was the easy part. Trying to get off the court and back to the locker room through the excitable crowd was far tougher, as autograph books and cameras were thrust in his face. It all made Roger and Rafa look unpopular.
Rising san: Kei Nishikori serves against Mikhail Kukushkin, to the delight of his female follwers (below)
No rush for Kvitova
Yes, Petra Kvitova came from almost nowhere to win the women’s title last year. But it seems a little odd that, such is the anonymity of the fourth-seeded Czech, only one English-speaking journalist attended the post-match press conference after her 6-4, 6-4 first-round win over Akgul Amanmuradova of Uzbekistan. A decent exclusive for him but a reminder that Kvitova will have to win a few more to deflect attention from Sharapova, Wozniacki and Co.