Marterer and Otte continue
Djokovic wipes the wet Wimbledon lawn
07/03/2023 10:58 p.m
Rain disrupts the schedule on the first day of Wimbledon. Superstar Djokovic helps dry the pitch himself and then effortlessly wins. Two Germans also reach the next round.
Because the roof over Center Court was closed too late when the rain started, defending champion Djokovic’s opening match in London was interrupted for more than an hour. The grass in the world’s most famous tennis stadium had already become too wet when the organizers decided to continue the game under the closed roof. Djokovic lent a hand himself and wiped the lawn with a towel. The waiting spectators celebrated the Serbian world number one for his commitment. In addition, tournament employees tried to dry the wet areas with leaf blowers. At the time of the interruption, Djokovic had just won the first set against Argentina’s Pedro Cachin. “Of course it was a bit frustrating for everyone, but the conditions weren’t ideal. It was a bit strange, I usually come out with rackets and not towels,” said Djokovic, laughing. “But I hope you had some fun,” said the big favorite to the audience. “It’s just a special place. The temple in tennis.”
After the interruption, Djokovic didn’t have much trouble and after 2:11 hours he converted his third match point to 6: 3, 6: 3, 7: 6 (7: 4). For the Serbs it was the 29th win in a row at Wimbledon. Almost at the same time, Marterer also made his advancement perfect. The game of the 28-year-old from Nuremberg against the Croatian Borna Gojo was also interrupted on an outdoor court for around 90 minutes because of the rain. But Marterer stayed cool and prevailed 7:5, 6:7 (8:10), 6:3, 6:4. As in the previous year, the Franconian is in round two.
Otte gains self-confidence
Otte prevailed surprisingly clearly in three sets in the German duel with Dominik Koepfer. The 29-year-old from Cologne, who had to cope with many defeats and setbacks this year, won 7:5, 6:3, 7:6 (11:9). Like Marterer, Otte had only qualified for the main draw after qualifying. “Four wins in a row are just really good. Confidence is coming back,” said Otte. The Davis Cup pro faces Colombian Daniel Galán in the second round. Marterer meets the American Michael Mmoh.
Yannick Hanfmann has to stay in detention. The 31-year-old from Karlsruhe showed a very strong performance against the ninth-seeded American Taylor Fritz before the game was 4: 6, 6: 2, 6: 4, 5: 7, 2: 3 from the point of view of Hanfmann had to be canceled due to darkness. It will continue tomorrow. Daniel Altmaier, who lost to the Australian Aleksandar Vukic 3:6, 6:7 (1:7), 6:3, 5:7, was eliminated.
Tailor-made start for Iga Swiatek
Before the rain, Anna-Lena Friedsam had botched the start of the third Grand Slam tournament of the season from a German perspective. The 29-year-old lost to the American Alycia Parks 4: 6, 3: 6 and was the first German player to be eliminated. Friedsam made too many simple mistakes against the up-and-coming American and had to admit defeat after 1:41 hours. That means Tatjana Maria, Jule Niemeier and Tamara Korpatsch from the German women. The trio will play their first round matches this Tuesday. Then the first appearance of Olympic champion Alexander Zverev against the Dutch qualifier Gijs Brouwer is also planned.
World number one Iga Swiatek made a perfect start. The 22-year-old Pole won against Zhu Lin of China 6-1, 6-3 and easily advanced to the second round. The game of the French Open winner on Court 1 was also briefly interrupted due to rain, but was then quickly continued under the closed roof. First a tarpaulin and then the roof had protected the turf in the second largest stadium in the facility from the rain more quickly. Unlike Djokovic, Swiatek didn’t have to grab the towel himself.