Upsets for some, but not Roger!

The first day of Olympic tennis started with some upsets.  Tomas Berdych went out meekly in straight sets, slipping and sliding around on the newly planted grass on Centre Court.  Other upsets included Fernando Verdasco, Li Na and Sam Stosur, to name a few.  

Roger Federer looked like he was going to have a relatively easy straight sets win against Allejandro Falla.  However, already up a break in the 2nd set he squandered three match points on Falla's serve and then got broken trying to serve for the match.  Committing quite a few unforced errors, he somehow managed to hand over the 2nd set.  Then, though he broke early in the 3rd set he was broken again.  My blood pressure was rising at that point, knowing that anything could happen on a grass court in a best of 3 sets match.  However, though nerves must have a played a part for Roger in letting his led slip away, he was able to hold onto them to gain another break and this time put things away.  He seemed quite relieved in his post-match interview.

His next match doesn't get any easier, having to come face to face with the guy who almost beat him a few weeks ago.  Hopefully being tested early will be a help rather than a hindrance and give him more confidence going into what could be another tricky match.  And hopefully the desire to have a singles gold medal around his neck will push him to his best in the upcoming matches rather than causing him to tighten up and give away important points.  Come on Roger, you can do this!