Lleyton Hewitt will have to play beyond the excellent level of tennis he displayed at Queens if he is to make a similar inroads at Wimbledon, after drawing world number ten Stanislas Wawrinka in the opening round.
Hewitt drew praise from all circles for his run at the Wimbledon lead-up tournament last week, which saw him make easy work of Juan Martin del Potro in a deciding set, before bowing out in the semis.
Hewitt’s Swiss opponent is having the year of his life, having played in four finals in tournaments this year winning one of them.
The defensive style of Hewitt will be in contrast to the offensive style of Wawrinka, and the Aussie’s best hopes of winning will be in forcing the errors rather than making the winners.
Although Wawrinka doesn’t possess the grass court records that Hewitt does, preferring red as opposed to green under his feet, (he added his first ATP grass court title to his name overnight in the Netherlands/he made his first ATP grass court final overnight) and will be hungry for further success during the short-lived grass season.
Sam Stosur returns once again to her least favoured Slam with the odds again stacked against her.
Her first round match-up will be against 18-year-old qualifier Anna Karolína Schmiedlová, who snatched a place in the main draw as a lucky loser.
The young Slovak was a runner-up in last year’s French Open girls singles final and caused an upset at Roland Garros by taking out Belgian Yanina Wickmayer in the opening round.
Though Stosur sits 105 places higher in the world rankings, an unknown quantity will make the first round an uneasy affair, with an opponent still climbing in the rankings and with nothing to lose.
The really bad news for the sole Australian representative in the women’s singles is that a potential fourth round meeting will be against world number one Serena Williams.
Williams is arguably the most in-form player in the world right now, in either the men’s or women’s game. She has taken her opponents apart in recent months to look even more dominant than she did before her life-threatening injury several years ago.
If Stosur manages to make it so far it to take on the American superstar, she will be starting five Wimbledon titles and a favoured surface behind.
To set up the dreaded meeting, Stosur will have to make it past the third round at SW19, something she has not achieved in ten attempts.
The run-in with grass court specialists continues for other Australian mens hope Bernard Tomic, facing 21st seed Sam Querrey.
The American’s powerful serve will only be accentuated further on the fresh grass of round one, and Tomic will lose if he doesn’t take control of the points.
Querrey will look to simply outpace a slower and more variable game that Tomic possesses, and if the Tomic keeps a level head and makes Querrey play defensive, the match is for the Australian’s taking.
Tomic knows what it takes to make it to the quarter-final of Wimbledon, and certainly has one of the easiest eighths of the draw.
He could do it again, it’s just about getting the tough first round encounter done.
James Duckworth and Matt Reid have both managed to qualify for their first ever Wimbledon.
Duckworth has a very winnable match against fellow qualifier Denis Kudla, and it may come down to who has the mental game at a nervous time for both youngsters.
Reid has the rougher end of the stick, facing top 50 player Radek Stepanek.
Stepanek crashed out of the opening round at the French Open to fellow Aussie Nick Kyrgios, but just came from a home tournament victory several days ago. Reid has nothing to lose and should play accordingly.
Lastly, Matt Ebden and Marinko Matosevic will have tough times, coming up against Kei Nishikori and Guillaume Rufin respectively.
Matosevic can certainly beat his lower ranked opponent, though has had a tough time of late against players ranked lower. Ebden meanwhile may have to look to the next tournament.
No Australian looks a certainty in their first round game, and it could be that all lose and crash out. You never know.
For some like Matt Reid, it’s a new experience on a stage greater than all previous tournaments played combined. For others like Stosur, it’s a chance to put past demons behind.
The draw gods were not kind to many outside of Australia either, particularly Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, who may meet as early as the quarter finals!
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