Wimbledon Day 1: All American affair sees Pegula edge Davis out in three setter

By Paul Lagan at Wimbledon

Court 2

Jessica Pegula (US) v Lauren Davis (US) 6-2, 6-7, 6-3

It’s always a nervous time, the first match on a show court in a slam – Wimbledon makes it extra nervous.

On Court 2 at 11am, were two Americans looking to thrill the half-full arena but also to book themselves into the second round.

Unseeded Lauren  Davis ranked 46 in the world was up against fourth ranked Jessica Pegula.

This looked alike a mismatch from the start but Davis took the match to a third set after a 10-8 second set tie-break win.

But class told in the end and Pegula edged the deciding set.

A break in the first game did not bode well for Davis against the No4 seed.

And Pegula  ploughed through her service game to led 2-0 without barely rising a sweat.

Two became free within 11 minutes, suggesting that unless Davis could steam the tide, her Championships would be over before the clock struck noon.

But a bit of respite came in the fifth game we’re Davis managed to hold her serve to make it 4-1 but with Pegula still firmly in the driving seat.

And so it came down after a service hold to Davis serving to save the set and she did.

But at 5-2 it needed just a little bit more effort from Pegula, some solid first serves which were returned to the net helped, and she soon won the game to 15 and the first set in 26 minutes.

A good start to the second set was desperately needed by Davis and she he.p her serve to love.

Changing the pace of the rallies to include some drop shots proved the deciding factor in the game.

Pegula responded with some top qualities powerfully to level the set to 1-1.

Davis managed to hold her serve after several  advantages went begging, to make it 2-1

Pegula held comfortably to make it 2-2

It’s to Davis’s credit that she  kept her nerve and her first services started to add potency to her game as she held serve to take a 3-2 lead. 

A slight wobble by Pegula almost saw her drop her serve, but she recovered well with some tight line play to keep the set level at 3-3.

But Davis was not giving up and excellent baseline shots dictated the rallies and she held comfortably to go 4-3 up.

Nothing was given in the remainder games of the second set which meant a tie-break was on the cards.

It duly arrived and the crowd, who were constantly distracted from the shouts of delight from the crowd on adjacent Court 12 where Brit Harriet Dart was strutting her stuff, were ably to fully engage with the game in front of them.

Davis pulled through with a tight 10-8 breaker.

Games went with serves and the match was finally won when Davis lost her serve.it was enough to give the expected semi-finalist the edge and she saw out the deck ing set 6-3.

Pictured top Pegula v Davis Picture: Paul Lagan