Wimbledon R1 - David vs Janko Tipsarevic

(Tim Hales/AP Photo)

Update
It was not at all a bad match that David played today but Janko Tipsarevic was simply too good and too solid, especially in the important moments of the match. And so in the end, it was the eighth seed from Serbia who prevailed 6-4, 7-6(4), 6-2 after two hours and 27 minutes, sealing the second first-round exit at Wimbledon in David's career.

The next event for David will now be the London Olympics, also at Wimbledon, a month from now. I assume that he'll be heading home now to take a break until then.

Edit: Photos are up now on the Photo Page.
Post coming tomorrow.

(Getty Images/AP Photo; montage by VD)

Ten years ago, David (ranked #40 as of this week) was a young and still pretty much unknown player when he stunned the tennis world by making it to the final at his first ever Championships. This year, it's the eighth time of playing Wimbledon for David (having missed it in 2004 and 2009/10) and today, it starts with a match that's going to get a lot of attention
- as it's of course David's first official match since the Queen's Club final. And because of all the attention, the organisers have decided to schedule this match on Court 1. So David gets to "kick off" (as all the British newspapers describe it) proceedings on the second biggest court at Wimbledon today, with his match against the eighth seed of the tournament.

Janko Tipsarevic, 28 years old and ranked #8, has posted consistently good results this year, mostly on hardcourt but also on clay. Apart from winning the World Team Cup with Serbia, he has a final (at Chennai), two semifinals and and three quarterfinals to his name.
On grass, Tipsarevic played at the Queen's Club, where he lost in the third round to Yen-Hsun Lu. After that, just like David, he played at match a Boodles, defeating Andy Murray.
At Wimbledon, Tipsarevic's best result so far has been reaching the fourth round (in 2007/8). The last two years he went out in the first round, losing to Arnaud Clement in 2010 and having had to retire against Ivo Karlovic, last year. However, that he's able to do well on grass, Tipsarevic showed when he reached the final of Eastbourne, last year.

This will be the fourth meeting between David and Janko Tipsarevic, with the match record standing at 2-1 in David's favour, and the first match between these two that won't take place on hardcourt. At the Australian Open 2007, David saved two match points in the third set before Tipsarevic retired in the fifth. This year, David prevailed at Indian Wells, while Tipsarevic managed to turn the tables at Miami.
It's going to be a tough match for David today, also because he and his behaviour on court will be under public scrutiny, and one that might very well go the distance. But hopefully David can find a way of continuing the form he has been displaying on grass.

P.S. At least, David will be able to play this match, knowing that there'll be no further sanctions from the ATP (thanks, Anonymous).