The second day of Wimbledon had some drama involving Rafael Nadal, a few upsets, and lots of entertaining tennis. There were five-setters, there were surprises, and there was Roger Federer dominating an overmatched opponent on grass. In a great day of tennis, there were some special standouts.

Honor Roll:

Martin Klizan (lost to Rafael Nadal 6-4 3-6 3-6 3-6): This is Klizan’s breakout season, with 18 wins and a title. He fought Rafa from the baseline impressively all match long. He hit some incredible shots from the baseline, and his forehand is very reminiscent of Nadal’s forehand when he whips it. Klizan should be top 20 by the end of 2015 at the very least.

Milos Raonic (defeated Matthew Ebden 6-2 6-4 6-4):  Raonic continues to improve and impress from the baseline. He won a staggering 40% of points on return against Matthew Ebden, breaking the Aussie’s serve four times en route to an easy victory. A fascinating matchup against up-and-coming Jack Sock is next.

Stanislas Wawrinka (defeated Joao Sousa 6-3 6-4 6-3):  Wawrinka is not known for being good on grass. In fact, this year’s Australian Open champion is relatively poor on this surface. He didn’t show it today, though, hitting the ball cleanly and impressively while being untroubled by Joao Sousa. A very tricky matchup with Yen-Hsun Lu awaits.

Frank Dancevic (defeated Ivo Karlovic 6-4 7-6 7-6):  Beating Karlovic on grass isn’t tremendously impressive. Winning two tiebreaks against him is tough but not impossible. But Dancevic, a lucky loser at this tournament, made the most of this opportunity though. He hit only four unforced errors in this entire match, which was over 200 points long. That is an incredible stat.

Lost Their Homework:

Jerzy Janowicz (defeated Somdeev Devvarman 4-6 6-3 6-3 3-6 6-3):  Janowicz hit 19 double faults and 60 unforced errors. He did what he always does, hitting the ball hard and hoping that good things happened. It barely got him through this match. It won’t in the next match against Lleyton Hewitt unless he can be more consistent and keep more balls in the court.

Richard Gasquet (defeated James Duckworth 6-7 6-3 3-6 6-0 6-1):  The final two sets were not as scary for Gasquet as they could have been because Duckworth seemingly ran out of gas after being broken in the fourth set. Still, Gasquet looked uninspired for most of the match. He didn’t play poorly, but it was not close to the level that we know can produce, especially on grass. His performance was not that of a player looking to make a deep run this fortnight.

Alejandro Falla (lost to Ante Pavic 4-6 3-6 5-7):  This was a poor showing from Falla, who has been strong on grass. His stats weren’t so bad, but he is having a solid year and was coming off a runner-up finish in Halle. Losing in straight sets to someone ranked outside the top 150 is not how he wanted this grass season to end.

Match of the Day:

There were several five-setters today, some of which were exceedingly entertaining. Still, the most gripping match of the day by far was Nadal vs. Klizan. Klizan drew our attention to the match at the outset by opening up three break points in the first game. However, he could not convert any of them. The first set was a tense affair, with neither player able to convert on numerous break chances. Klizan eventually got the break on a Nadal double fault in the ninth game and served out the set.

The final three sets were each won by Nadal, two of them by a single break, but that does not show how tense and gripping this match was. Both players were hitting great shots, and both were consistently getting looks in the opponent’s service games. It was a nerve-wracking affair from start to finish, with Klizan getting a break back once and even earning break point chances while Nadal was serving for the match. Rafa won this match on the strength of fighting off break points, but it was compelling tennis to watch.