**Centre Court impressed this Wimbledon first-timer, but Roger Federer did not.
**I’ve seen Centre Court hundreds of times on television and it never fails to impress. Visually, it’s a gem, with officials working on lush, verdant grass dressed in the finest combination of navy, purple and cream. The traditions are countless, distinguishing Wimbledon from showier Slams like the U.S. Open. The tennis hasn’t been bad, either. Two of the sport’s most memorable matches (Bjorn Borg-John McEnroe ’80 and Roger Federer-Rafael Nadal ’08) were staged there, among other classics.
But until I saw Centre Court in person, I wasn’t ready to render my judgment on whether it is indeed tennis’ ultimate arena. Within minutes of my entrance Monday, all my expectations were confirmed. Yes, it is a flawless piece of turf, and this early in the tournament there’s not a speckle of brown. The setting is intimate—it seats nearly 15,000, but there’s not a bad seat in the house. And the acoustics are awesome: Instead of irritating music during changeovers, the soundtrack to the match is the ball meeting the racquet, which permeates throughout the stadium.
Roger Federer, a six-time champion on Centre Court who opened on it today against Alejandro Falla, felt much the same. “When I walked out for the warmup, I’m like, ‘This court is amazing.’ I don’t remember it ever being so perfect, you know,” he said in predictable hyperbole.
The warmup turned out to be one of the highlights of Federer’s day. He walked out to rousing applause as the defending champion, sporting a beaming smile and white apparel with gold trim. As the match began, Federer was at ease on his preferred surface, routinely holding serve and targeting Falla’s backhand at will. The Colombian, who lost to Federer at both Roland Garros and Halle, seemed like a typical No. 60 player. He retrieved the Swiss’ shots well enough, but showed nothing to suggest he could actually threaten the GOAT.
But all of this didn’t add up to what began to develop on the grass. While he had plenty of chances to break early on, Federer couldn’t solve Falla’s serve, and didn’t until the third set, after he’d already dug himself a two-set hole. His backhand went long, wide, into the net—anywhere but its intended destination. Known for his assertive play on grass, Federer was instead tentative; you would have thought he was playing on the clay of Court Philippe Chatrier at Roland Garros, not his second home, Centre Court. Fittingly, Federer struck the bottoms of his shoes with his frame—a common sight on dirt—after a rare slip on the surface. On occasion, Federer has looked woefully out of sorts at all the other Slams, but never at the All England Club. Today, he played his worst match at SW19 since he became Wimbledon champion.
You could see in the reactions, or lack thereof, from the crowd in the packed stands how close Falla came to rocking the tennis world. It was uncommonly quiet when Federer was on the brink of elimination—there weren’t as many “C’mon Roger!” pleas as I had anticipated. The spectators seemed to be in a continuous state of shock, even as Federer clawed back to even and cruised toward the finish line (he won the final set 6-0).
While Centre Court didn’t disappoint on my first visit, I never would have envisioned Roger Federer looking so ragged there, in the first round, even if only temporarily. Now I’ve seen it all.
Ed McGrogan is an assistant editor for TENNIS.com. Follow him on Twitter.