Among the men, despite an absence of three years, no preparation and a suspended foot, Rafael Nadal has made a successful return to the London turf.

At 40, Queen Serena announced to everyone's surprise her return to the singles circuit less than two weeks before the start of the tournament.

Falling to 1,204th place in the world because she had not played a single match since last July, she had obtained an invitation to play the main draw.

But the French Harmony Tan (115th), as impressed as she was especially since she was playing the Major on grass for the first time, found the resources to abort the return of the American, whom she beat 7-5, 1-6, 7-6 (10/7) in 3h11.

Harmony Tan celebrating her victory over Serena Williams on June 28, 2022 in the first round of Wimbledon Glyn KIRK AFP/Archives

"I hadn't prepared for three-hour matches," Williams said.

Intimidation

Because Tan was able to take advantage of the shortcomings of his opponent, lacking benchmarks.

Sometimes borrowed, not always well placed, even a little lost on the court, not knowing whether to move forward or back, not always sure of herself or her shots, Williams was unable to impose over the length of the match. his powerful and intimidating game which made his strength.

Serena Williams on June 28, 2022 on Center Court at Wimbledon.

Back to singles competition, the American finished exhausted after 3h11 of exchanges Glyn KIRK AFP / Archives

She gave a lot of screams to try to evacuate the obviously enormous pressure that weighed on her shoulders, but there was too much waste in her game (54 unforced errors against 28 for her opponent).

So she sometimes resorted to attempts at intimidation, with particularly theatrical demonstrations on a few key points like the one that gave her the break and the possibility of serving for the match in the third set.

But in vain.

Opposite, the 24-year-old Frenchwoman made her run as much as possible, forwards, backwards, sideways.

Williams, visibly physically short, finished exhausted while the Frenchwoman couldn't believe it.

"I'm so moved I can't find the words...She's a superstar, I've watched her so many times on TV that for my first Wimbledon, it's...wow!" Tan commented.

"Big test"

"When I saw the draw, I was very scared. It's Serena Williams, a legend, I was wondering how to play against her and I thought if I ever won one or two games, it would be great," added Harmony Tan.

Among the gentlemen, Nadal fared much better.

"Every day is a test and today was a big test," commented the Spaniard after his 6-4, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 victory against Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo (41st ) 6-4, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.

"When you play well at Roland-Garros, there is not much time left to prepare for the grass. Gone are the blessed days when I could chain Roland-Garros and Queen's to prepare for Wimbledon... now I I need rest and in addition I have to take care of my foot", he underlined.

Winner of the first two Grand Slam tournaments of the season, at the Australian Open and Roland-Garros, the Spaniard with a record of 22 major titles will face the Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis (106th) in the second round.

Rafael Nadal after his victory over Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo in the first round of Wimbledon on June 28, 2022 Glyn KIRK AFP

With the elimination of Felix Auger-Aliassime (9th) and the withdrawals due to Covid from Marin Cilic and especially from Matteo Berrettini, finalist last year and undefeated this season on grass after two tournaments, his picture has cleared up.

Stefanos Tsitsipas (5th), winner last week on the turf of Mallorca, gave up a set to Alexander Ritschard (188th) before winning 7-6 (7/1), 6-3, 5-7, 6- 4.

He becomes Nadal's main competitor in the lower part of the table.

© 2022 AFP