Wimbledon Days 3 and 4 - Djokovic And Nadal Survive Scares

The shocks may not have been as frequent as they were twelve months ago but after four days of Wimbledon it only seems a matter of time before this prestigious but unpredictable tournament conjures up another giant upset.   



Djokovic suffered a second round scare against Stepanek

On Wednesday Novak Djokovic came within a couple of points of being pegged back to two set all with the animated Radek Stepanek, while Rafael Nadal also suffered an early second round scare against Lukas Rosol.

Djokovic, the bookmakers favourite to win this year’s men’s tournament, appeared in complete control when he secured the second set against Stepanek; however the 35 year old Czech had other ideas. His vibrant style and interactions with the crowd threatened to turn the match of its head, as Stepanek clinched the third set tie break making the unthinkable a possibility.

The top seed showed signs that he was going to buckle but managed to compose himself in the nick of time; taking the fourth set on another tie break ending Stepanak’s challenge 6-4 6-3 6-7 (5) 7-6 (5)

On the other side of the draw Nadal was equally tested by Rosol the man who eliminated the Spaniard from the tournament at the same stage two years ago.

Back then Rosol’s monstrous hitting stunned Nadal and simply blew the Spaniard away. For a set and a half in yesterday’s encounter it was a similar story, Rosol led 6-4 4-2 with a break of serve and was on the brink of a two set lead. However Nadal is not a fourteen Grand Slam Champion for nothing and appears determined to put his early defeats from the past two years well behind him.

Nadal recovered to edge the second set on a tie break before sealing early breaks in sets three and four as he progressed 4-6 7-6(6) 6-4 6-4.

Despite those worrying moments for the top two seeds they still remain the clear favourites in the men’s competition along with defending champion Andy Murray and the seven time champion Roger Federer.

Murray’s second round win over Blaz Rola was as convincing as it gets, as the Brit brushed aside his opponent for the loss of just two games, showing the type of form which saw him claim the title a year ago.

Out of the so called “top four Federer is the one who has somewhat slipped under the radar, however there has been nothing off about the Swiss’ first two matches. He came through a potentially tricky match with Luxembourg’s Gilles Muller and as a seven time Champion the Swiss remains a real contender on his favourite surface.

The Women’s draw has been slightly more predictable with favourites Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova and Li Na all progressing for the loss of just a couple of games.

The same can be said for last year’s runner up Sabine Lisicki and 4^th seed Agnieszka Radwanska, however the one major surprise was a defeat for 8^th seed Victoria Azarenka who was beaten 6-3 3-6 7-5 by Serbia’s Bojana Jovanovski.

The second round also marked the end of British interest in the draw, Heather Watson produced a strong showing but ultimately fell short losing to 9^th seed  Angelique Kerber 6-2 5-7 6-1, while Naomi Broady was beaten 6-3 6-2 by Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki.