In the first match of the year on Court 5, Timea Babos, ranked 93 in the world, squared off against Czech Republic’s Petra Cetkovska, ranked almost 60 spots below her in the rankings, at 162. And the Hungarian rebounded from two consecutive first round losses at the All England Club to claim only her second main draw win at grass events this year, with a tight 7/6, 6/3 win.
It was the first meeting between the 22-year-old Babos and the 30-year-old Cetkovska. In the first set, both players made light work of their counterparts when serving, as none of the women got broken throughout the frame, in an unusual scenario in tennis. More unlikely as zero breaks of service, however, was Cetkovska’s strong games: she did not face a single break point, and the only three Babos faced came in the first game of the match, as Petra raced to a 0-40 lead before Babos rebounded and held.
In the tiebreak, both players kept their error count low, and it was Cetkovska who drew first blood, mini-breaking Babos to go up 3-2. However, a pair of mistakes of her own had Timea back in the breaker. When the Czech returned to serve, down 4-5, she committed two unforced errors, handing the set to the Hungarian.
The second set featured more mistakes and breaks of serve. Cetkovska broke Babos the first time the first set winner came to serve, and then held for a 3/0 lead. As she failed to build on that momentum, Babos took her chance and rebounded winning six games in a row – morally bageling Petra – and closing out the match, as Timea’s strong serves prevented her from facing more break-points after that first game.
Timea Babos now advances to round two, where she will face world number one and five-time Wimbledon champion Serena Williams.