De Minaur roars into second round as Kasatkina powers through pre-match vomit

The Age

8 hours ago

Kasatkina, who switched allegiances from Russia to Australia in March, shook off a nervous pre-match spew and 11 double faults to down Colombian Emiliana Arango 7-5, 6-3.
'I can tell because a lot of people saw it – five metres from the court, I vomit[ed],' Kasatkina said, laughing.
'Just as I was entering the court; a little accident happened, completely out of nerves. There was nothing else wrong with me, except this. Not having enough confidence, losing a couple of matches in a row, and playing the first match of the day ... adds a little bit to these nerves.
'I saw a few times Andy Murray did it during matches. There is, for sure, nothing to be ashamed of. It's just something you cannot control; it's not like I came into the match being drunk.'
Neither the quality of opponent nor early stage of the tournament could provide enough evidence for de Minaur, or anyone watching, about whether he was back to his best, but he was satisfied.
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'It felt like there was not as much pressure on myself,' de Minaur said, in a welcome admission after speaking openly about his struggles with mental fatigue since before Roland-Garros.
'I just went out there, and my focus was on doing a job. I knew that, going in, I was in a really good headspace – and I was hitting the ball really well, so it gave me a sense of calmness.
'This match had a bit of everything. It had some really good tennis from my side in the first two sets, then he lifted the level. I was in some tough moments, which I was able to play through. Then at the end I ... played a very clutch kind of tiebreak in a positive manner, going after the ball.
'I would classify that as a very good, solid performance, and I'm quite pleased with that.'
De Minaur, who has unfinished business after not being able to play his quarter-final last year due to a hip injury, considers Wimbledon a second home grand slam. London is his fiancée Katie Boulter's home city, and is in relatively close proximity to his family in Alicante, Spain.
As a result, his player box was more populated than a typical Australian Open for him.
There was Hewitt, Gutierrez and strength-and-conditioning coach Emilio Poveda Pagan, plus his mother Esther, siblings Daniel, Sara and Cristina (known as 'Cuki'), agent John Morris and 72 Sports Group colleague Borja del Castillo, 'mum-ager' Kathryn Oyeniyi, Boulter's mother Sue, and Esther's Australian friends Lee and Sergio.
Lee and Sergio are travelling across Europe supporting de Minaur.
Boulter, who upset ninth seed Paula Badosa on Monday, occupied a different courtside spot, tucked under a Wimbledon-branded umbrella to shade herself from the unusually hot English weather.
Just like on the practice court, de Minaur communicates almost exclusively in Spanish with his team, while former world No.1 and dual grand slam champion Hewitt offers a constant volley of bite-sized encouragement.
'My mum has definitely started travelling a bit more frequently, and she tries to make most of the slams,' de Minaur said.
'My siblings, it's a bit rarer occasion that they come out. This is probably the first time this year that they're all together, so the whole family is out here, which is pretty cool and pretty special.'
Vukic rifled 11 aces among 44 winners – against only 39 unforced errors – in his four-set victory over Tseng as he reached the second round at Wimbledon for the third consecutive year.
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In 2024, Vukic served for the opening set against eventual champion Alcaraz, only to lose in straight sets, so he will know the type of standard to expect from Sinner when they meet on Thursday.
'I've really got nothing to lose. He'll be the one feeling the pressure,' Vukic said of Sinner, who is hunting a maiden Wimbledon title. 'If there's a surface to play him on, it's probably this one because it is a bit more random, so more upsets can happen. Hopefully, I can be one of those.'
It was a tougher day for Walton, Eastbourne champion Maya Joint and qualifiers Priscilla Hon, James McCabe and Alex Bolt, who all fell at the first hurdle.
Russian 18th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova ousted Hon 6-2, 7-5, and her 19th-seeded countrywoman Liudmila Samsonova eliminated 19-year-old Joint 6-3, 6-2, while Fabian Marozsan spoiled McCabe's All England Club debut in a 6-1, 6-4, 6-3 result.
American 10th seed Ben Shelton pipped fellow left-hander Bolt 6-4, 7-6 (7-1), 7-6 (7-4), and next faces Hijikata, whose win over Goffin was just his sixth from 20 tour matches this year.
Joint, who climbed 10 spots to a career-high No.41 after her Eastbourne triumph, has lost in the first round at her past two grand slams after winning titles leading into both.
The teenage rising star hopes to be seeded by the time she contests her next major at the US Open in late August, to avoid such perilous first-up opponents as the powerful Samsonova.
'It was a lot different than the last time [I won a title before Roland-Garros] when I was coming from Morocco, going to Paris,' Joint said. 'I just had to take a two-hour car ride, and then I had an extra day to prepare, which was good this time. I expected to do a little bit better, but Liudmila played really well today.'
McCabe found himself stuck in traffic on the journey from nearby Earls Court, and was half an hour later arriving at Wimbledon than he planned – and it did not get any better once his match started.
'It was definitely a lesson learned, but I'm just grateful for the experience,' McCabe said.
The upsets continued on Tuesday, with seeds Jessica Pegula, Zheng Qinwen, Karolina Muchova, Magdalena Frech, Marta Kostyuk, Lorenzo Musetti, Alex Bublik, Denis Shapovalov and Alex Michelsen bowing out.