Fernando Gonzalez stuns Alexandr Dolgopolov in the opening round – Wimbledon Championships 2011
Local crowd at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, England, was in for a surprise, as the 478th ranked Fernando Gonzalez of Chile, defeated world number 24, Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine
in the opening round of the Wimbledon Championships on Tuesday.
The unseeded Chilean registered his surprising victory by concluding the contest in two hours and eighteen minutes of play, settling the final scores at 6-3, 6-7(6), 7-6(3), 6-4, to make it to the second round of the Grand Slam
event.
Dolgopolov has been in a tremendous form throughout the running ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) season and has already won 22 out of the 38 singles matches he played. The Ukrainian was among the strong players in the
Wimbledon field and his opening round ejection was a huge surprise for the tennis fans all over the world.
The 22-year-old Ukrainian first faced Gonzalez during the French Open last year, when he defeated the Chilean convincingly in straight sets 6-3, 6-4, 6-3, but failed to replicate the similar performance this time round. Dolgopolov
has recently recovered from a hip injury and it appeared in the contest that he was struggling with his physical fitness. The typical Dolgopolov agility and flare was certainly missing in his game, letting the Chilean veteran to take advantage and wrap up
a crucial victory.
Dolgopolov dropped the opening set before he clinched the second after a tough fight with Gonzalez to level the contest with one set apiece. He lost his steam in the later parts of the game to bestow victory upon Gonzalez, letting
him an easy pass to the second round of Wimbledon.
The Chilean was phenomenal with his serve, delivering 65 per cent on target and firing 25 thudding aces in the contest, with Dolgopolov following with 18 aces. He wrapped up the opening set in merely 28 minutes to get the early
advantage in the game but the Ukrainian competitor bounced back in the very next set, holding serve in all the games to enforce a tie breaker round. Gonzalez lost the second set in the tie breaker round at 6-7(6) but again got into lead after winning the third
set at 7-6(3).
Gonzalez then finished off the competition after breaking Dolgopolov in the fourth round, sealing victory at 6-4 to book a date with South African qualifier, Rik de Voest, in the second round of the Grand Slam. De Voest defeated
Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo of Spain in straight sets 6-2, 6-3, 6-2, in the opening round of Wimbledon.