Tennis News

Another rare clash between 17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer and Latvian Ernests Gulbis is scheduled to take place, this time in the second round of the Gerry Weber Open in Halle. This is just the fifth time these two competitors will meet on the professional tour, and their first meeting since Gulbis ousted the Swiss star during the fourth round of last year’s French Open. The head-to-head series is currently tied 2-2.

In one of his toughest matches against the German Philipp Kohlschreiber, Roger Federer managed to save himself from a lose when he was just a few points away from being ousted prematurely from Halle. In the end, he prevailed in three tight sets to secure his place in the second round of the tournament. He won the match 7-6(8), 3-6, 7-6(5) in two hours and 11 minutes to earn his fourth win against Kohlschreiber at this tournament.

“I’m very relieved,” said Federer after the match. “Philipp served at 5-4 in the [third set] tie-break. It’s rough on grass, it takes two serves and maybe that’s it.” “I wasted two match points at 5-4, 15/40 and then saved a break point at five-all, so it was a roller-coaster ride in the end. My nerves are still going a bit crazy right now,”

The following morning, Ernests Gulbis stepped out on court to defeat Sergiy Stakhovsky in straight sets to work his way into the second round of the tournament. He fired nine aces, won 76% of his first service points and saved three break points en route to a 6-4, 7-6(3) win against the Ukrainian.

This marks the fifth time that these two competitors will cross paths on the professional tour with the series currently tied 2-2. Three of those meetings took place on clay, while Federer remains undisputed on hard courts. This marks their first encounter on grass and should be an interesting one given their current trajectories on the tour. With an eighth title on the line for Federer, it will be interesting to see how he performs on Wednesday.

Swiss No. 2 Stan Wawrinka managed to earn the victory and send himself into the second round of the Aegon Championships at Queen’s Club. His next on-court appearance will be a compelling match against South Africa’s Kevin Anderson, whom he has lost his two most recent meetings against. The head-to-head series is currently tied 3-3 with all the matches being played on hard court. This is set to be their first grass court meeting.

Coming off a remarkable run at the French Open, where he put his first round loss in 2014 to shame with a fantastic fortnight in Paris to lift his second Grand Slam title in as many years, many believed that Wawrinka would have some trouble in his early transition onto clay. However, that was certainly far from the case on Tuesday, as he began his Aegon Championships campaign with a straight sets win against Nick Kyrgios. He struck nine aces, won 93% of his first service points and saved all three of the break points he faced on serve to close out the match 6-3, 6-4 in 49 minutes.

Wawrinka will come up against Kevin Anderson, the South African No. 1, who during his first match on grass came within a few points of losing to Lleyton Hewitt before he managed to break back in the second set to force a decider. There, he dominated the encounter to oust Hewitt from the Aegon Championships for the final time in the Australian’s professional career. He struck 22 aces, won 78% of his first service points and saved six of eight break points to close out the match 6-7(5), 7-5, 6-2.

This marks the seventh time these two competitors will meet on the professional tour, with the head-to-head series tied at 3-3. Although Anderson won their two most recent meetings on the ATP World Tour, Wawrinka holds three other Masters 1000 wins against Anderson. Given Wawrinka’s recent performances, as well as his solid start on grass this season, he will likely be able to overturn his two-match losing streak to the South African.

Back in 2007, a 20-year-old Andrew Murray stepped out on court in Flushing Meadows to challenge Jonas Bjorkman, who was playing his penultimate season on the ATP World Tour. The two contested a thrilling five-set affair that saw Murray prevail 6-1 in the fifth.

Now, eight years later, Bjorkman wants Murray to find that aggression in his game once again, only with a few modern adaptations to his style as well.

“When I lost to him in the US Open when he was young, I think he was more aggressive at the time,” Bjorkman explained to The Tennis Podcast (transcript via The Telegraph).“But the game has changed, everything has changed. Hopefully together with Amelie [Mauresmo] we can work our way to a position where he will feel more comfortable. When you have your position right, you will hit better volleys. So it is all about coming in a little bit more and that was something I always tried myself. I didn’t have big weapons from the baseline so I had to chase the net as soon as I could.”

Ranked No. 3 on the ATP World Tour, Andy Murray compiled a 15-1 record on clay this season, which included two title wins in Munich and Madrid before he reached the semi-final stage at Roland Garros. There, he lost to Novak Djokovic in five sets during a match that was played over two days. Now, with Joras Bjorkman by his side, Murray will attempt to recapture his former glory on grass and carry his current momentum and form forward.

“It’s quite easy because with Andy he has so many big weapons, such a huge game, and he is so professional on and off the court,” said Bjorkman, who has not coached on the tour before.”You get very inspired as well, being part of this team.”

Murray himself has grown in confidence, as he believes he has regained the form that helped him win Major championships back in 2012-13 before his surgery.

“From the beginning of this year I’ve felt ready to win major competitions again,” said Murray, who was searching for his best form in 2014 following back surgery. “It’s been huge, huge progress from where I was this time last year. I’ve played extremely well so far this year so I have to be happy about that.”

Andy Murray’s 2015 grass court campaign will commence with a contest against a player whom he faced during his historic run to the Wimbledon Championships crown back in 2013: Yen Hsun Lu. During that time, Murray was an unstoppable sensation on grass – a motivational force on a one-track course to capture the title denied to Brits for over seven decades. However, this time around, all eyes will be on the Scot as he attempts to follow up on an impressive clay court season. Of their three previous meetings on the professional tour, Murray leads the head-to-head series 2-1.

Ranked No. 3 on the ATP World Tour, Andy Murray compiled a 15-1 record on clay this season, which included two title wins in Munich and Madrid before he reached the semi-final stage at Roland Garros. There, he lost to Novak Djokovic in five sets during a match that was played over two days. Now, with Joras Bjorkman by his side, Murray will attempt to recapture his former glory on grass and carry his current momentum and form forward.

“From the beginning of this year I’ve felt ready to win major competitions again,” said Murray, who was searching for his best form in 2014 following back surgery. “It’s been huge, huge progress from where I was this time last year. I’ve played extremely well so far this year so I have to be happy about that.”

Murray’s upcoming opponent Yen Hsun Lu has already played three matches on grass so far this season, including two wins in the qualifying round here at Queen’s Club. Prior to that, he lost his opening match on the surface this season when Adrian Mannarino at the TopShelf Open ousted him.

This marks the fourth time that Murray and Lu will meet on the professional tour but also the first time since the 2013 Wimbledon Championships. Murray leads the head-to-head series 2-1 and has not lost a match to Lu since 2008. Given that he is the stronger and more comfortable player on this surface, Murray should be able to work his way into the second round of the tournament.
 

World No. 1 Rafael Nadal and Alexandr Dolgopolov with cross paths once again on the professional tour in what is scheduled to be their sixth meeting to date. The Nadal vs Dolgopolov head-to-head stands at 5-1, yet they have not met since the Indian Wells tournament, which took place last season.

After losing just his second match ever at the French Open last week, Rafael Nadal fought valiantly all week in Stuttgart to arrive in a final against Viktor Troicki. While he needed three sets at various points throughout the week, he managed to claim the title following a straight sets victory. He won the match 7-6(3), 6-3 to earn his third title at the Mercedes Cup. It was his first title on grass since the 2010 Wimbledon Championships.

“It’s a very special title,” said Nadal. “Since 2011 I didn’t play a final on grass, so win a title here is very good news for my game and for my mentality too. Congrats to Viktor for a great tournament. He’s playing great and will have some positives for the week.

“At this point of the season, every victory is important and every title means a lot to me. I’m happy for that… Thank you very much for all the support here in Stuttgart.”

Nadal will come up against Alexandr Dolgopolov, who is coming off a opening round loss to Philipp Kohlschreiber at the Mercedes Cup.

This marks the sixth time these two competitors will meet on the professional tour, with Nadal leading the series with a 5-1 score. The first and last wins came on clay, while the remaining ones took place on hard courts. However, Dolgopolov actually won their most recent encounter at Indian Wells. While this may be the case, Dolgopolov is not as capable on grass courts and will likely not put up the same fight here.