1. Wimbledon 2015: Day 1’s Lesser-Known Winners
As Wimbledonstartedagainyesterdayforanotheryear,bignamesdominatedthe headlines,with
NovakDjokovic,SerenaWilliams,MariaSharapovaandshock FrenchOpenchampionStanislas
Wawrinkaall cruisingthroughtheirmatchesinstraightsets.Todaywill likelybe asimilarstory,with
AndyMurray, lastyear’swomen’schampionPetraKvitovaandRogerFedererall inaction,sharing
the mediaattentiononlywiththe hostof Britishhopefuls,aimingtocontinue the country’s
improvingrecordatits home Grand Slam.Everyyear,however,new facesandold handspass
unnoticedintothe secondandthirdrounds,sometimesforthe firsttime.Here’sanoverview of
some of the winnersyoumayhave missedyesterday:
Marsel Ilhan
The TurkishNo.1, 28, currentlydownat82 inthe world,wasone of the biggestwinnersyesterday
and yetisunknowntoa large portionof tennis’fanbase.Ilhancame throughimpressivelyin4 setsin
hisfirstroundmatch againstbig-servingPoleJerzyJanowicz,semi-finalistatWimbledonjusttwo
yearsago. Janowicz,24, tooka setoff AndyMurray in that match in2013, butcouldonlymanage
the same againstIlhan,whotamedhisserve withskill,winning7-6(7-4) 6-4 6-7 (4-7) 6-3. Ilhanhad
neverprogressedpastthe firstroundat Wimbledon,butafterthisvictorywill face Queen’sfinalist
and 14th
seedKevinAndersoninRound2.
Daniela Hantuchova
The Slovakianformerworldno.5 has droppeddownthe rankingsasof late,beginningthis
tournamentrankedjust46th
in the world,butcame back witha vengeance yesterdaytowin
comfortablyagainstDominikaCibulkova,recentlybackfromanAchillesinjury.Hantuchova,32,
came through7-5 6-0 againsther countrywoman,whowasashighas no. 10 inthe worldlastyear
and reachedthe 2014 AustralianOpenfinal.If Hantuchovacanconquerthe victorof yesterday’s
delayedmatchbetweenHeatherWatsonandFrance’s32nd
seed,Caroline Garcia,she will goonto a
likely3rd
roundmatch withSerenaWilliams.
John Millman
Perhapsthe biggestshockinthe men’sdraw wentto AustralianJohnMillman,conquerorof 19th
seedandserial quarter-finalistTommyRobredo.He sweptpastthe Spaniardinstraightsets,6-26-3
6-4 andwill face anotheroldhandin CypriotMarcos Baghdatisinthe nextround.Rankedat only119
inthe world andwitha highestrankingonlyone place higher,Millman,26, wasshockedto get
throughqualifyingforthe firsttime since turningproin2006 and vowedatthat pointnevertoenter
the Wimbledoncomplex untilhe made itthroughqualifyingandhisfirstvisittothe tournament’s
maindraw has alreadyprovedaresoundingsuccess.
JelenaOstapenko
Last year’sWimbledongirl’schampionwasnotexpectedtogetfar inthe maindraw afterbeing
drawnto playin-form9th
seedCarlaSuarezNavarro,but she shockedthe tennisworldbytakingher
opponentapart6-2 6-0. The Latvian,18, onlymade herWTA tourdebutat the TashkentOpenin
Septemberlastyear,buttooklessthan an hourto dispatchher Spanishopponent.She willface
France’sKristinaMladenovicinRound2 before a possible 3rd
roundencounterwithVictoria
Azarenkainthe 3rd
roundif she can continue herrichveinof form.

2. DenisKudla
The 22 yearoldAmerican hasreachedthe 2nd
roundof Wimbledon forthe lasttwoyears,butthis
time wasthe most impressiveof them,comingbackfromtwosetsdownto beat28th
seedPablo
Cuevas6-7 (4-7) 4-6 6-3 6-2 6-2. Kudla,bornin Ukraine,onlyearnedawildcardtothe competition
throughwinningthe AegonIlkleyTrophy,beatingMatthew Ebden,anotherwinneragainstBlazRola
yesterday,andwasthe underdogagainstCuevas,buthe recoveredwell afteraterrible startto
powerthroughthe lastthree setsand setup a second roundmatch withGermanteenager
AlexanderZverev,withthe possibilityof athirdroundmatchupwithworldno.5 Kei Nishikori.
Zarina Diyas
Unfortunate tomissout on beingseededforthe tournamentatno.32 in the world,Diyasproved
herrankingwrong byupsettingItaly’s24th
seedFlaviaPennettain3setsyesterday.The young
Kazakhstani,21,has rocketedupthe rankingsrecently,reachingthe 3rd
round inall the most recent
Grand Slamsapart from the FrenchOpenandreachingWimbledon’sfourthroundlastyearandwill
hope to do the same again.HavingdefeatedPennetta6-32-6 6-4, she will take onthe little-known
BelarussianAliaksandraSasnovichinthe secondround.
Jarkko Nieminen
AlthoughhisepicmatchwithLleytonHewitthitthe headlinesas itwas Hewitt’sfinal Wimbledon
match, the Finn,asusual,wentverymuchunnoticedinhiswin,settingupasecondroundmatch
withworldno.1 NovakDjokovic.The 33 year oldhas beenaregularmemberof the world’stop100
since 2001, reachingthe quarter-finalsof everyGrandSlambutthe FrenchOpen,andit seemstome
that Nieminen’sterrificcareerhasnot receivedenoughrecognition.Despite arelativelymodest
highestrankingof 42 some 9 yearsago, Nieminenhasbeenone of the mostconsistentperformers
on the ATP tourfor yearson endand hasdefeatedNovakDjokovic,FernandoGonzalezandAndre
Agassi inhis14 year career.Whetherhe can challenge adominantDjokovictomorrow isyettobe
seen.