Several Russians played their first matches at Wimbledon on Wednesday. Due to rain and darkness the day before, Veronica Kudermetova, Roman Safiullin and Aslan Karatsev’s matches with Karen Khachanov were postponed until the morning of July 3.
The matches between Kudermetova, Karatsev and Khachanov were scheduled to start at 13:00 Moscow time, but due to bad weather they were postponed for two hours. At 15:00 the athletes still went out onto the court, 10 minutes later they left the venue again after it started to rain, but quickly returned when the rain stopped dripping from the sky.
Karatsev (world no. 99) and Khachanov (22) celebrated the first Russian derby at the start of a Grand Slam in six years. The last time the Russians met in the first round of the US Open was in 2018. Daniil Medvedev then defeated Evgeny Donskoy 7:5, 6:4, 6:2.
Karatsev and Khachanov met for the fifth time. Before that, the score in their confrontation was 3:1 in favor of Karatsev. The last tennis match was held on grass in Halle in 2022. Then Khachanov turned out to be stronger (6:7, 6:1, 6:2).
Today’s match between the Russians was interrupted after the opening game, which made it difficult for the players to concentrate afterwards, and for this reason Karatsev missed his first serve. Khachanov served well throughout the first set and did not give his opponent a chance to get close to a break. However, Aslan partially succeeded with the score 3:5. He got a triple break point, but could not use a single opportunity. As a result, Karen won the first game from the first set point (6:3).
Karen Khachanov
Photo: Jon Super/Getty Images
In the second set, Karatsev got involved in the game, began to serve more reliably and shoot harder. By the fifth game, Khachanov had lost his concentration a little, made unforced errors and got angry, but Karatsev also contributed to this, playing efficiently and firmly behind the back. Aslan fought, played varied and generally looked more confident throughout the set, which was reflected in his actions at the end of the game. The tennis players reached the tie break, where Karatsev was helped by his serve, active actions in the rallies and the decline of his opponent. All this allowed Aslan to take the second set (7:6 (7:4)).
The tennis players continued to show a decent and interesting game. Both refused to give in the third set, as evidenced by Karatsev’s service game with the score 5:6. Aslan led with a score of 40-0, after which he made a couple of unsuccessful saves and allowed Karen to win three points in a row. Karatsev tormented this mini-game, in which the score came “exactly” four times. In the tie-break in the fight for the hot third set, there was an excellent fight and a scattering of set points, of which only one remained for Khachanov. For Karen, this attempt to seize the game was the seventh, and, finally, resilience and oblique serve helped him to seize the opportunity.
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At the start of the fourth set, Karatsev began to feel worse on the court, and, as it turned out a little later, it was because of pain after losing in the tie-break. Aslan held his knee and took no further risks. With the score 2:0 in Karen’s favour, he retired. The intense match between the Russians lasted three hours.
Khachanov missed the grass court season last year due to injury, so he did not have to defend his points at Wimbledon now. Karatsev reached the second round of the 2023 season in London. And this year, at the same stage, Aslan will face Frenchman Quentin Alice.
In the men’s draw, Roman Safiullin (44) also played his first round match today. On Tuesday, July 2, the Russian started the encounter with the Argentine Francisco Serundolo (30), overcame the 0-2 deficit and brought the match to the fifth set (6:7, 3:6, 7:5, 6:3). However, this thriller was interrupted by darkness before the start of the fifth game.
Safiullin took less than an hour to complete today’s match. Until the end of the fifth set, the players were neck and neck, but Roman managed to break away in time with the score at 4:4. The Russian had no problems in finishing this long match in his favour. With a score of 6:4, he won the decisive match and won a match in which he was losing 0:2 in sets.
Safiullin needs to defend 350 points and a significant number of ranking positions at Wimbledon, as he reached the quarter-finals here last year. This time, in the second round, Roman will face the winner of the match between David Goffin and Tomas Machac.
In the women’s draw, Veronica Kudermetova (38) played the first match today and faced Barbora Krejcikova (32). For the girls, this match was the fifth previous one, the score in their confrontation was 3:1 in favor of the Russians. The last competition between Veronica and Barbora took place this year at a clay court tournament in Stuttgart. Kudermetova turned out to be stronger then (5:7, 6:4, 6:4). The Czech has defeated the Russian tennis player only once – at Roland Garros in 2018.
Kudermetova is experiencing a decline this season. She has only managed to make it past the second round three times (in Charleston, Indian Wells and Brisbane). The last match Veronica played in Bad Homburg against Caroline Wozniacki was very difficult for the Russian. During the match, she called the doctor and cried, which resulted in her loss 2:6, 4:6.
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The Russian started today’s match with Krejcikova well: not everything was going well in her game, her backhand sank, but she seemed to be in control. Kudermetova broke twice and each time immediately returned it to her opponent. Both players made completely unnecessary mistakes, at the beginning the Czech had more, but at the end of the game they also covered the Russian. Veronica saved herself with her serve, but she did not always perform convincingly in the exchanges, especially on set points in the 10th and 12th games, as well as in the tie break. Because of this, the Russian tennis player, having four opportunities to take the set, still gave it to Krejcikova (6:7 (4:7)).
In the second game, the players continued to alternate actively won points with spontaneously failed rallies. The girls played mostly on the baseline, while the Czech team ran more often to the net. Veronica and Barbora again exchanged breaks at the beginning of the set. In an important match with a score of 4:4, Kudermetova earned three hidden set points with her excellent actions in prolonged rallies, but she was unable to cope with several serves from Krejcikova and again squandered her chances.
The result of the second game, like the first, was decided by a tie-break. There was only one difference: Kudermetova managed to play much more successfully. From the very beginning, Veronica stressed Barbora, forced her to make a mistake and gave her only one point! The Russian put the finishing touch to her Czech opponent and brought the match to a decisive set.
Veronica Kudermetova
Photo: Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images
The third game started with an early break from Krejcikova, which Kudermetova was only able to recover midway through the set. After Veronica took her opponent’s serve in the fourth game, she was also able to win her own without any problems. It seemed that this could give the Russian confidence and strength until the end of the match, but in the seventh mini-game not everything went according to plan. Veronica was leading with a score of 30-0, but her backhand let her down a couple of times, which Barbora took advantage of and took advantage.
However, a little later Krejcikova’s plan also failed – she was unable to appear for the match. After that, Kudermetova, according to the unpleasant tradition of today’s match, failed to confirm the break and her opponent again came out to serve for the match. At the second attempt, Barbora finished off the match with an almost unbreakable serve. In the next round, the Czech will play Katie Volynets.
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