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Wimbledon ... Lleyton Hewitt draws Swiss star Stan Wawrinka in the first round. Source: Jonathan Brady / AAP
Draw day at a Grand slam – when players find out their first round oppoenents and everyone else gets wwwaaayyyy ahead of themselves as to who is playing who in 10 days time, as if to wish away what happens between now and then.
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This Wimbledon has Serena playing someone else in the final.
And in the men's, 2 of the Big 4 (Djokovic, Murray, Federer, Nadal) would play in the Quarter Finals, thanks to the odd (at best) decision to put Rafael Nadal as the 5th seed behind David Ferrer at 4.
Wimbledon 2013 - Ultimate Guide
Yes, there was a procedure to follow – Wimbledon uses a special formula taking into account grass court performances and rankings – not just the latter, and the computer came up with the notion Ferrer is a better grass court player than Nadal right now. This does not compute.
Nadal has been punished for losing to Lukas Rosol in the 2nd round last year – he didn't admit injury at the time, but spending the next 7 months off was a fair indication – and also not playing a lead up event after the French Open.
Ferrer, an accomplished player who did well on the surface in 2012 (winning a title in Holland before a good run here), is lucky, and good on him.
But tennis failed to luck-out, because the vast majority wants to see the Big 4 in the last 4.
Anyway, short-term goals are what the Australians are about. Here's a look at their first-up tasks:
SAM STOSUR
Yes, drawing an 18 year-old Slovakian lucky-loser clay-court specialist looks a good draw for Sam, but seriously, who really knows. Her record at Wimbledon is the worst of the 4 majors – 6 wins, 10 losses, best result 3rd round, with just 1 win in the last 3 years. A horror show. But drawing Anna Schmiedlova first is surely a positive. Surely.
LLEYTON HEWITT
What do you do when you draw a talented Swiss one-handed backhand player? Practice with the best Swiss one-handed backhand player. Hewitt spent 2 hours on court with Roger Federer on Friday – and beat him too, to the point of frustration the defending champ at one stage flipped his racquet on the turf in disgust: the Halley's Comet of tennis. Hewitt-Wawrinka is the first round match neither man wants, but is the first round encounter most talked about after the draw. Hewitt is in good nick, as is Wawrinka who has made the final at the event in Holland (played Saturday night). A cracker awaits.
BERNARD TOMIC
Thanks in part to his father's situation and winning a few matches at the lead-up in Eastbourne, Tomic hasn't been sighted on the grounds yet, although he's expected to practice over the weekend. He played well at Eastbourne, losing a tight one to Gilles Simon, who played some brilliant shots on big points. Tomic gets Sam Querrey, the 21st seeded American who has a better win percentage on grass than any other surface. Not ideal, which is what happens when you don't have protection as a seed – which has occurred for Tomic because he's been unable to build on his impressive start to the season in Australia, winning just 1 of 7 matches in the lead up to Eastbourne.
MARINKO MATOSEVIC
9 Grand Slams played. 9 first round losses. It's not funny anymore. Big Marinko needs a break and gets one here with Frenchman Guillaume Rufin, ranked 89, aged 23 and winner of just 5 matches on tour this year. The Australian has the ability to think too harshly of himself when things go awry, but if he stays the distance mentally in this, ability should see him finally breakthrough for a win.
MATT EBDEN
Got a wildcard (good year to get it with every main draw player guaranteed at least 40 grand) before drawing Japanese star Kei Nishikori first. The South African born Ebden moved to Perth as a youngster, which turned out to be the perfect preparation for Wimbledon as the West Australian capital is a grass court haven and Ebden has spent a lot of time on them over the years, and he warmed up on Friday with a win over Tommy Haas in an exhibition match nearby. All of which will help - and he needs it against Nishikori who is playing career best tennis.
JAMES DUCKWORTH
The Duck has done it the hard way again – after qualifying at the French open, he did it again here at nearby Roehampton and will open his Wimbledon career against Denis Kudla – a Ukrainian-born American, ranked 105 in the world who made the quarter-finals at Queens a couple of weeks ago. Duckworth, who loves nothing more than a bit of hard work, will go in with confidence; this being his 3rd Grand Slam appearance of the year.
MATT REID
The real feel-good story of the past few days – ranked 213 in the world, Reid is 22 years old and ready for his career highlight. Like many of his age, he grew up watching Pat Rafter when he really should have been sleeping for school the next day. He got past Somdev Devvarman in the first round of qualifying 18-16 in the final set and then recovered to reach his first Grand Slam main draw at the 7th time of asking. A massive Wallabies fan, he's scheduled practice on Saturday around the first Lions test. Then on Monday he'll play Radek Stepanek – the former top tenner Aussie teenager Nick Kyrgios upstaged in the first round of the French Open. Earlier this year, Reid was playing challengers in places like West Lakes in Adelaide and Kunming in China. Now he gets play at the greatest place in tennis.
