Belgians seem to produce these short stocky players.  The Rochus brothers, Oliver and Christopher, are about 5’6″.  Such heights were more common 40 or 50 years ago, but as taller players have become more athletic, being short has become a liability.

Steve Darcis, had he been playing in the 1970s, would have been at a typical height of players at 5’10”.  Connors was that height.  However, a more typical height is 6’1″.  And Tomas Berdych, at 6’5″ is a prototypical modern player.  Berdych can be pretty streaky.  At his best, he can beat anyone.  But his flat style and lack of speed hurt him enough that he can lose to anyone too.  Berdych lost early at Wimbledon to erratic Ernests Gulbus.  One can imagine that Gulbis just had one of those days where he could do no wrong.  But it’s difficult to assess how Berdych was playing.

In this match, Darcis was the aggressor, hitting nearly twice the winners and a paltry number of errors.  Berdych struggled with footing as well, as slipping seems to be a common theme on the grass courts.  With Darcis up double-break, Berdych was able to get back one of the two breaks.  However, despite being down on his own serve, Darcis came back to hold and win in his second attempt to close out the match, 64 64.

Earlier, Ryan Harrison, who had been expected to beat the clay court specialist, Santiago Giraldo, lost tamely, 75 63.

Janko Tipsarevic and David Nalbandian squared off at pretty much the same situation, as they met in the opening round of Wimbledon.  They drew each other in the opening round of the men’s singles, and like at Wimbledon, Tipsarevic came out the victor in straight sets, 63 64.  Philipp Petzschner, who appears to be filling in for Florian Mayer, who chose not to play, won his opening round over Lukas Lacko, 76 61.

Isner has taken the first set over Oliver Rochus, another Belgian, in a tiebreak.  They are early in the second set.  Isner is up in the second with a break.