• Wimbledon: What They Said

Nadal refuses to use injury as an excuse

Steve Darcis was elated to defeat Rafael Nadal © Getty Images

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Wimbledon 2013

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The big shock of the opening day was Rafael Nadal's surprise straight sets defeat to the world No. 135 Steve Darcis. The Spaniard looked hampered by an injury for much of the contest, but refused to blame that for his first ever exit in the opening round of a grand slam.

"There were not a lot of good things for me," Nadal said. "I tried my best all the time I had my chances but I did not make it. It is difficult to adapt your game on grass. Now is not the right time to talk about my knee. The only thing I can do is congratulate my opponent. It is not a tragedy, I lost, it is sport.

"I'm confident that I will recover and be ready for the next tournaments. I have played far more than I expected after my injury and I will try my best for the next couple of years."

Steve Darcis, meanwhile, was elated to deliver on one of the sports biggest stages. He said: "Rafa did not play his best match here, it is hard when it is your first match on grass. I just wanted to play my own game, coming to the net and not playing far from the baseline. I did not target his knee, tennis is hard enough when you are thinking about yourself.

"I have always played well on grass, perhaps not here where I have had some tough draws, but I am really happy. I do not know what to say."

Defending champion Roger Federer sounded almost disappointed to have waltzed into the second round with a 6-3 6-2 6-0 win over Victor Hanescu.

"The longer the match, the longer you spend on Centre Court, it's not a bad thing. Today went by very quickly. I guess you prefer to have it this way and walk away as a winner. Overall, I played a good match, no hiccups on the serve. I was moving pretty well, even though I felt it was quite slippery. It was a perfect day."

Victoria Azarenka felt lucky to have walked from the court, let alone booked her spot in the second round, after straining her knee in a nasty fall early in the second set of her 6-1 6-2 win over Maria Joao Koehler.

"It's such a shock to me. I slipped and it felt like my whole body collapsed. I don't know what happened out there. I just tried to stay in the moment and give the best I could. It was definitely very emotional.

"I was in such pain at the beginning, it wouldn't stop. I almost slipped one time before that. It shouldn't be like that on grass, we are not on clay anymore. I will do the best I can just to be ready for the next match and we will see what happens."

First to ink her name on the list of plucky Brits to have exited Wimbledon in 2013, Elena Baltacha vowed to keep fighting to regain her national No. 1 ranking over the next 18 months.

"I know that Flavia Pennetta has dropped in the rankings but you know that you can't take her very lightly. I knew she would come out with some quality and she did. Unfortunately I was on the receiving end of it. I'm obviously disappointed but I'm happy with how my return is going and I'm looking forward to the future. I want my No. 1 spot back, it'll be a tough challenge but give me a year-and-a-half and I'll be back there, it will be a brilliant challenge for me."

Teenage wild-card Kyle Edmund is tipped for great things but the British 18-year-old got a taste of just how far he has to go to reach the top in his 6-2 6-2 6-4 defeat by Jerzy Janowicz.

"It was a tough experience. It was very tough out there to get much rhythm, sort of ease into the tournament. He's such a big player, hits the ball really hard, and if you're not on it 100%, it's very tough. I still played okay, I thought. But at that level, I think I need to play better to win.

"In terms of all the support and stuff, it was great to play on that court. My first Wimbledon, I couldn't ask for anything more. It's a day I'll never forget to play. So it was a really good experience."

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