The Coffee House

So, the 2019 Wimbledon championships are due to start at the beginning of next week!

As usual, I'll start with a few questions:

• The defending champions are Novak Djokovic [1] on the men's side, and Angelique Kerber [5] on the women's side. Will they be able to defend their titles?
  
  
• The French Open champions will be there too: Rafael Nadal [3] has had a mixed record at Wimbledon over the past few years, but Ashleigh Barty [1] will no doubt be super-confident on the back of her French Open win and her rise to World No. 1. How will they do?
  
  
• Two players who have enjoyed great success at Wimbledon in the past are Roger Federer [2] and Serena Williams [11]. Do they have what it takes to do it again this year?
  
  
• The men's and women's draws each have one British seed, in the shape of Kyle Edmund [30] and Johanna Konta [19]. Will the home crowds propel them to success this year?

Djokovic will win. The ladies is well and truly open. Wouldn't be surprised if Serena wins tbh or even Sharapova.

Seeing a 1 next to Barty still seems unreal. Not confident she's gonna win but hopeful.

Well, Barty did withdraw from Eastbourne with a shoulder problem. I hope it's just precautionary (or to get some rest after winning her past two tournaments), and it's not going to affect her at Wimbledon...

Also, I see Bianca Andreescu has withdrawn. Apparently, her shoulder injury from the French Open still isn't better .

Well, the tournament hasn't even begun, and there's already been a major surprise. 15-year-old Cori Gauff has qualified for the tournament :

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/48787086

She becomes the youngest Wimbledon participant in the Open Era, and the first 15-year-old to make it since Laura Robson in 2009.

Good luck to her!

A few shockers on the first day:

• Jiri Veselý [Q] def. Alexander Zverev [6] 4-6 6-3 6-2 7-5
  
  
• Thomas Fabbiano def. Stefanos Tsitsipas [7] 6-4 3-6 6-4 6-7^8-10 6-3
  
  
• Yulia Putintseva def. Naomi Osaka [2] 7-6^7-4 6-2
  
  
• And, perhaps the biggest shock of them all... the 15-year-old qualifier won her first-round match :
  Cori Gauff [Q] def. Venus Williams 6-4 6-4

GO CANADIANS!

[19] FAA beat Vašek Pospišil in four sets in the latter's comeback after Vashy had to have back surgery. For a guy just coming back, he put up a helluva fight! Besides the seeds eliminated that have already been mentioned for the men, [32] Lajović was beat in four by Hubert Hurkacz (who is no slouch), and [16] Monfils retired in the fifth set. All the other seeds went through, as did a few seeds from years bygone or notable unseeded players, like Marcel Granollers, Jeremy Chardy, Fernando Verdasco, Ivo Karlovic, Janko Tipsarevic, Andreas Seppi, and Feliciano Lopez. Gregor Dimitrov is out, though. He lost in five to Corentin Moutet after being up two sets to love. 

I noticed that Brayden Schnur is in the main draw as well. He has a potentially tough first-round opponent in Marcos Baghdatis, but I'm excited to see how he does!

Ladies' Singles - Besides the Osaka upset, most of the seeds did go on. French Open finalist [16] Marketa Vondroušová didn't though, losing in straight sets, [23] Garcia got thwacked in the second set as she lost 6-4 6-0 to Zhang Shuai, [29] Daria Kasatkina really got blitzed by Alja Tomljanovic, and [10] Aryna Sabalenka lost in straights to Maggie Rybarikova. All in straight sets. Ouchies.

Wow, after her heroics at the French open, that's quite a fall from grace for Vondroušová ! Then again, I guess she's likely to become more consistent with age.

Pity Pospisil had to retire with back surgery . Still, it is good to see him back.

I'll admit I've never come across Brayden Schnur before. Good luck to him !

No, no, this was Pospisil's comeback after back surgery. Sorry, I worded that poorly.

Brayden Schnur turned a few heads earlier this year (I think he went deep in some pre-Aussie tournament) but kinda dropped off the radar for a while. He's a former NCAA star, though. I'd like to see him succeed, obviously

OK, thanks for clarifying .

Looks like Schnur is going no further: he lost his match 6-2 6-4 6-4 .

Now, a couple more notable results:

• Sam Querrey def. Dominic Thiem [5] 6-7^4-7 7-6^7-1 6-3 6-0. Not as big a surprise as the seeding would suggest, since Querrey has done well at Wimbledon in the past (beating Djokovic in 2016 and Murray in 2017), while Thiem's best results have come on clay. Still, that makes two French Open runners-up who have been eliminated in the first round of Wimbledon!
  
  
• Pauline Parmentier def. Maria Sharapova 4-6 7-6^7-4 5-0^r . Seems like Sharapova's really struggling to regain relevance: considering she's not winning, is down to No. 80 in the world, and has multiple interests outside the game (like her business stuff), I wouldn't be surprised if she retires soon. Then again, pretty much every 'retirement' prediction I've ever made has ended up being dead-wrong .

Shapovalov's out too. A bit surprising, really.  What's more surprising, though, is that Federer dropped a set in his opening round match No other men's seeds have been eliminated... yet. Nikoloz Basilashvili came awfully close though - went to 8-6 in the fifth set!

[26] Muguruza and [32] Tsurenko are out on the women's side. So is Eugenie Bouchard, who also lost in an extended fifth set, 8-6.