Wimbledon, Day 1: Federer And Djokovic Survive; Roddick, Venus, And Oudin Win

2) Andy Roddick has won over the Brits. Entering to a standing ovation, No. 5 Andy Roddick’s performance in last year’s final ensured the support of the Wimbledon crowds for the rest of his career. He thanked them for that support by putting on the most clinical display of dominance by any man in action today, beating fellow American Rajeev Ram 6-3, 6-2, 6-2. Roddick’s draw got easier today with the exits of potential fourth round opponents No. 11 Marin Cilic and No. 17 Ivan Ljubicic, but his second round match against Michael Llodra is guaranteed to be tough.

3) This men’s tournament is going to be wildly unpredictable. Of the eight Top-20 seeds in action on the men’s side today, eight of them lost at least one set. Three (No. 1 Federer, No. 3 Novak Djokovic, and No. 7 Nikolay Davydenko) lost two sets, and three (No. 11 Marin Cilic, No. 17 Ivan Ljubicic and No. 20 Stan Wawrinka) exited the draw by losing three sets. The grass makes for incredibly quick swings in momentum, and an entire match can turn on its head in an instant. The top guns on the bottom half of the draw (No. 2 Rafael Nadal, No. 4 Andy Murray, No. 6 Robin Soderling) had to be a little shaken up by what they saw today.

Finishing at 10:59 PM, just before the 11 PM curfew, No. 3 Novak Djokovic defeated Olivier Rochus in the latest match in Wimbledon history, closing out the diminutive Belgian in five sets by the line of 4-6, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2.

This is why Centre Court and Court No. 1 action should start at noon, like all the other courts do. A match being called due to curfew would be unspeakably lame.

No. 3 Novak Djokovic finds himself trailing Belgian Olivier Rochus 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 in the final match scheduled for Centre Court on Day 1 of Wimbledon 2010

With the sun soon setting in London, the tournament referee made the decision to go ahead and close the roof preemptively during this natural break in the action.

American Melanie Oudin, the No. 33 seed, has won her first grand slam match since her magical run at the 2009 US Open, beating German Anna-Lena Groenefeld 6-3, 6-0 in the first round.

Oudin had lost in the first rounds of both the Australian and French Opens this year, but she has had some decent results in mid-level tournaments, most notably a run to the semifinals of the Paris Indoors.

No. 5 Andy Roddick won his first round match at Wimbledon 2010 easily, defeating compatriot Rajeev Ram 6-3, 6-2, 6-2.

There were some questions about Roddick’s form coming into Wimbledon, after a poor French Open and a early loss to Dudi Sela at the Queen’s Club warm-up event London.

No. 5 Francesca Schiavone was upset in the first round of Wimbledon by Vera Dushevina, by the score of 6-7(0), 7-5, 6-1.

Schiavone has not won a match since winning the French Open, also losing her first round match last week in Eastbourne.

Just who the heck is Alejandro Falla? That’s the question Roger Federer and tennis cognoscenti everywhere are asking, with Falla pushing the six-time winner at the All-England Club to a decisive fifth set in the first round at Wimbledon, before collapsing late in the match.

Falla, who hails from Colombia, is 26-year old southpaw currently ranked 60th in the world. Words like “journeyman” and “unheralded” come to mind for a player who has never won a tournament in his career, and whose best result in a slam was reaching the third round of the Aussie Open this past year. Falla did have a bit of positive history at Wimbledon -- at least as much as someone who’s never advanced beyond the second round there can have -- after shocking then No. 9 seed Nikolay Davydenko in the first round at the All-England Club in 2006.

The biggest name to fall so far at Wimbledon 2010 is No. 11 seed Marin Cilic, who fell shockingly in straight sets to Florian Mayer, 6-2, 6-4, 7-6(1).

Cilic made the semifinals of the 2010 Australian Open, notching enormous wins over Juan Martin del Potro and Andy Roddick, but has struggled for the last several months.

With a shutout in the final frame, top-seed Roger Federer completed an enormous comeback from the brink of a massive upset, beating unseeded Alejandro Falla 5-7, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(1), 6-0.

And with his quick finish in the fifth set, Federer is done in time to see the end the World Cup match between Chile and his native Switzerland.

Roger Federer has his foot firmly on Alejandro Falla’s throat now, breaking Falla’s serve for a second time to go up 3-0.

A quick hold at love now makes the lead 4-0.

Roger Federer’s remarkable comeback seems to be a sure thing now, as he broke Alejandro Falla in the first game of the fifth set.

A quick hold to consolidate that lead made it a 2-0 lead for Federer.

Roger Federer dominated the fourth set tiebreak, winning the last six points to take it 7-1 and force a decisive fifth set.

Federer is now one set away from winning his forty-ninth match at Wimbledon out of his last fifty.

After Federer and Falla each held for 6-6, the two proceed to the first tiebreak of their match.

For a player with a mediocre 9-9 record on the year, Falla boasts a surprisingly robust 4-1 record in tiebreaks in 2010.

Helped by some nervous looking forehands off the racquet of Alejandro Falla, Roger Federer has broken to stay alive and level the fourth set at 5-5.

Nerves are certainly understandable for Falla, as this is the biggest moment of his career. But will he be able to get another chance to close out the six-time Wimbledon champion?

Since Falla broke Federer to open the fourth set, the players have held serve the last seven games.

Alejandro Falla now leads Roger Federer 5-3, and is one game away from pulling off what could be the biggest upset in tennis history.

So much for momentum.

Alejandro Falla has broken Roger Federer in the first game of the fourth set. Falla put massive amounts of pressure on Federer’s second serve, getting the #1 seed on his back foot immediately in rallies.

A game after saving four break points, Roger Federer wins the third set 6-4 to reduce Alejandro Falla’s lead to two sets to one.

Federer punctuated the set with a forehand winner up the line on his second set point.

After falling down 0-40, Roger Federer saved four break points on his way to holding in the ninth game of the third set to keep the frame on serve.

The break would have given Falla a 5-4 lead and a chance to serve for the match.

Defending champion Roger Federer has lost the second set, and now trails two-sets-to-none to Alejandro Falla by the score of 7-5, 6-4.

Both men made several poor errors late in the second set, including several volleys dumped into the middle of the net.

Federer hasn’t been able to track down the lefty’s hooking forehand, or successfully pass him, with Falla coming to net on most every service point.

Defending Champion Roger Federer has dropped the first set to Alejandro Falla, 7-5. Falla earned the first break of the match in the eleventh game, and then held to take the first set.

The last time Federer lost the first set in the first round of Wimbledon?