Behind The Scenes At Wimbledon 2016
Behind The Scenes At Wimbledon 2016
Jul122016
World No. 156 Daniel Gimeno Traver caused an upset on Tuesday in Hamburg in the first round of the German Tennis Championships 2016 as he defeated second seed Benoit Paire 7-5, 3-6, 6-4.
The Spaniard recorded his first tour-level win since April and sixth of the season as he saved 14 of the 21 break points he faced to topple Paire in two hours and nine minutes on centre court.
Seventh seed Martin Klizan avoided an upset as he rallied from the loss of the second set to beat Igor Sijsling 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 in one hour and 44 minutes. After struggling with injuries to his right foot and neck, the No. 47-ranked Klizan claimed his first tour-level win since capturing the biggest title of his career at the ATP World Tour 500 tournament in Rotterdam (d. Monfils).
Stephane Robert ousted 2014 Hamburg champion Leonardo Mayer 7-6(3), 6-4 in one hour and 38 minutes. But there was success for Argentine Mayer’s countryman, Renzo Olivo, who defeated Mikhail Youzhny 7-6(5), 2-6, 6-1 in two hours and 14 minutes.
Wimbledon mixed doubles champion Heather Watson says she is keen to team up with partner Henri Kontinen again after the Olympic Games in Rio.
The 24-year-old won the title with Finn Kontinen, 26, on Sunday having not played together before the event.
“I loved every second of playing with him and we just gel and get along so well,” Watson told BBC Radio Guernsey.
“The only thing that would really stop us is the rankings, in being able to get into the draw.”
Find out how to get into tennis in our special guide.
Watson went out in the first round of the singles to Annika Beck after failing to convert three match points in a dramatic final set.
In the mixed doubles the pair received two walkovers before beating defending champions Martina Hingis and Leander Paes in round three.
“I had great partners in both doubles and mixed doubles to lift me up and I ended up playing really well in both, so I’m glad I stuck with it,” she added.
“Henri said as soon as we won our first match he thought we’d win it and I thought, ‘you know what, me too.”
Next up for the Guernsey player is the Olympics in August with Watson one of four players confirmed to represent Great Britain in Brazil.
“It’s been a big goal of mine and I’ve been talking about it a lot,” she said.
“It was big for me to make the cut to get in and be able to play in Rio, so now that I’m going I can’t wait.”
You can now add tennis alerts in the BBC Sport app – simply head to the menu and My Alerts section
Wimbledon men’s wheelchair doubles champion Alfie Hewett has revealed that he forgot the winning rally of their final.
The 18-year-old won his first Grand Slam title along with Gordon Reid.
The second seeds came from a set behind to beat top seeds Stephane Houdet and Nicolas Peifer 4-6 6-1 7-6 (8-6).
“I actually had to re-watch the match point because I just couldn’t remember what had happened,” Hewett told BBC Radio Norfolk.
“One of the players asked what was the rally like at match point and I couldn’t answer them, I just couldn’t remember what had happened – it was an insane moment.
“Thoughts start coming in your head about winning two or three points before, you’ve just got to try to keep as calm as possible.”
Despite his success, Hewett was asked if he would rather be a Wimbledon champion or watch his team Norwich City win at Wembley? “Wembley, all day long.”
As a triple Grand Slam champion who says he feels “more motivated than ever”, Andy Murray may just have triggered the second golden period of his career.
Winning two Grand Slams and an Olympic gold medal in the space of 12 months, as he did during the summers of 2012 and 2013, will be an exceptionally difficult trick to reproduce. But he appears to have time on his side.
Murray will turn 30 next May. Bjorn Borg, Ivan Lendl, John McEnroe, Boris Becker and Stefan Edberg did not win a single Grand Slam between them after entering their fourth decade, but players like Murray and Novak Djokovic – who is just seven days younger than the Briton – seem to have the attributes required to extend their winning years.
Fitness is one major element, and the back surgery Murray had in September 2013 has enabled him to expand his game on all surfaces. Another is desire, which cannot be taken for granted.
“Before I won Wimbledon in 2013, I was unbelievably motivated to win it,” Murray told BBC Sport as he reflected on his second All England Club title.
“But then after I won there, I didn’t quite know where to go or what I was trying to do. It felt like this was all I was meant to do, really.”
The extreme motivation required has now returned – thanks to his daughter Sophia, and his lifelong rival.
Losing three Grand Slam finals to world number one Djokovic in 18 months, and becoming a father who really would like his daughter to remember him playing at the highest level, has stoked his inner fire.
It is not fair to assume Murray will win more Grand Slam titles. Who, after Wimbledon 2013, thought he would have to wait three more years to add a third?
And don’t read too much into Djokovic’s third-round exit at Wimbledon. He has, after all, featured in six of the past seven Grand Slam finals – winning five of them. He is likely to arrive refreshed at the Rio Olympics and ready to do battle once more.
Between them, though, Murray and Djokovic could win the lion’s share of Grand Slam titles over the next three years.
It will be very tough for developing talents such as Dominic Thiem, Nick Kyrgios and Alex Zverev to match them consistently over that timeframe – and other than beaten Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic it is hard to identify a player in his mid-twenties who has serious potential to become a multiple Grand Slam winner.
Murray’s next goal is to defend his Olympic singles title and to win a medal with brother Jamie in the doubles. He will talk to coach Ivan Lendl this week about the best way to prepare for Rio and the US Open, which follows on just two weeks later.
After losing five finals in Melbourne, Murray will feel he has a score to settle with the Australian Open – and given his performance on clay over the past two years, the French Open should also be on his bucket list.
Murray enjoys setting himself new targets as his career progresses. For most of his 11 years as a professional, he has prioritised Grand Slams over rankings, but a tilt at the world number one spot is now becoming more enticing – and more realistic.
“I’d rather set the bar as high as possible and not quite achieve it than say I’d be happy finishing at five in the world, and finishing at three,” the Wimbledon champion explained.
“I’d love to get to number one, obviously, but I think a lot of people are forgetting what Novak’s done because he lost in the third round here. The last 18 months have been unbelievable – he’s hardly lost any matches at all – so I know that if I’m going to get there, I’m going to have to win more matches against him.”
There are currently almost 5,000 ranking points between Djokovic and Murray – which is a vast margin. However, the ATP rankings are calculated over a 12-month period, and if you look only at the points amassed since the start of the year, Djokovic’s lead shrinks to 815 points.
Were Murray able to continue his rich vein of form – and go on to beat Djokovic in the final of the US Open in September – then that advantage would be cancelled out.
Game on.
Defending champion Rajeev Ram enjoyed a welcome return to the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport on Monday with a 6-2, 6-3 win against American wild card Mackenzie McDonald.
Ram won almost 90 per cent of his first-serve points and erased two of three break points in the 65-minute first-round triumph. The 32-year-old American is looking to win the season’s final grass-court event for the third time (also 2009, 2015).
Ram, who’s making his ninth appearance in Newport, improved to 17-5 at the championships by beating the 21-year-old McDonald, who was playing in his first ATP World Tour match as a professional and recently finished a historic collegiate career at the University of California, Los Angeles. In May, McDonald became the first player in 15 years to win the NCAA singles and doubles titles in the same year.
“I actually know him pretty well, him and I practised together before he went to school. I tried to help him with a few things,” Ram said. “To get out and play somebody like that is a little tricky but I thought we both handled it pretty well.”
Ram, who’s coming off a doubles semi-final showing at Wimbledon with Raven Klaasen, said he always looks forward to his week in Newport. “I’ve won two titles, they’ve both been here. I’ve played here every year since I was a pro. A lot of things make it really special,” he said.
The Indiana native next will face seventh seed Dudi Sela of Israel, who beat Slovakian Lukas Lacko 6-3, 6-2. Sela was five-for-five on break points.
Eighth seed Donald Young also returned to Newport with a straight-sets win, sweeping #NextGen player Jared Donaldson 6-1, 6-3 in 56 minutes. Young lost only 12 points on his serve (35/47) to avenge a straight-sets loss to Donaldson on clay at the Savannah Challenger in April.
Young, No. 61 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, will look to achieve his best result in Newport with a win by making the quarter-finals (2R in 2008, 2011). He’ll next face 35-year-old Benjamin Becker of Germany or 18-year-old Stefan Kozlov of the U.S.
In doubles, Brit Brydan Klein and Japanese Yuichi Sugita upset top seeded Americans Eric Butorac and Scott Lipsky 6-3, 7-6(14). Butorac/Lipsky had three set points and had fended off six match points before falling in the 30-point tie-break.
Second seeded Aussies Sam Groth and Chris Guccione swept countryman Jordan Thompson and Sela 6-3, 6-4 in 52 minutes. Marcos Baghdatis and Gilles Muller also were victorious against Ariel Behar of Uruguay and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan of India 6-2, 6-3.
Five Swedes feature in the main draw – the most since 2008
Evgeny Donskoy saved two match points to prevail in an all-Russian first-round clash at the SkiStar Swedish Open on Monday. Eight seed Donskoy knocked out #NextGen star Karen Khachanov 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-3 on Centre Court in two hours and 30 minutes of play, having saved two match points at 5-6 in the second set. He is now 12-17 on the season.
Watch Khachanov Interview
Later in the day, sixth seed Aljaz Bedene overcame a second-set wobble to overcome local wild card Isak Arvidsson 6-4, 7-6(4) in one hour and 34 minutes. Bedene led 5-1 in the second set, which included four service breaks, and closed out on his third match point opportunity.
Argentine Facundo Bagnis dropped a set but ultimately prevailed against Estonia’s Jurgen Zopp 6-1, 6-7(5), 6-1. The 26-year-old Bagnis, No. 93 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, erased all 10 break points during the one-hour and 51-minute match. Bagnis next will play fourth seed Marcel Granollers of Spain for the first time.
In the lone doubles match of the day, Julio Peralta of Chile and Horacio Zeballos of Argentina beat Swedish wild cards Markus Eriksson and Milos Sekulic 6-3, 6-3 in 54 minutes.
Two-time champion David Ferrer and Joao Sousa, the 2014 finalist, lead the Bastad field, which was completed on Monday by Calvin Hemery, Christian Lindell, Henri Laaksonen and Tristan Lamasine, who all qualified for the main draw at the ATP World Tour 250 event in the beach resort.