Norrie finds form to stun British number one Draper
Cameron Norrie stuns British number one Jack Draper with an assured second-round win at Wimbledon.
Cameron Norrie stuns British number one Jack Draper with an assured second-round win at Wimbledon.
Andy Murray’s Thursday night may have involved a doubles defeat on Centre Court at Wimbledon, but that did not stop the grass-court major from offering a fitting tribute to the two-time singles champion and home favourite in London.
Rinky Hijikata and John Peers delivered a clinical performance to overcome Murray and his brother Jamie Murray 7-6(6), 6-4 in a first-round clash. With Andy making what he has said will be his final appearance at the grass-court major, the home crowd offered vociferous support to the two-time Wimbledon singles champion and former No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings throughout.
It was not enough to carry him and his brother to victory, but the cheering for Murray did not stop once Hijikata and Peers had wrapped their 88-minute win. Former WTA star and legendary British broadcaster Sue Barker came onto Centre Court to pay tribute to Murray, a 46-time tour-level titlist, before a tribute video was played that featured his great rivals Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, as well as Serena Williams.
Andy, the memories, the matches, the magic – thank you for all of it ♥️<a href=”https://twitter.com/Wimbledon?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@wimbledon | <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Wimbledon?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/Kn04fVgi1w
— ATP Tour (@atptour) July 4, 2024
Despite Thursday’s defeat, the former No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings Murray is still set for at least one more match at SW19. He will team with fellow British major winner Emma Raducanu in the mixed doubles, but has said he is likely to retire later this summer. He has been named in Great Britain’s team for the 2024 Paris Olympics in late July.
“It is hard, because I would love to keep playing, but I can’t,” said Murray said in an interview with Barker during which he reflected on some of his career highlights and paid tribute to his family. “Physically it’s just too tough now. All of the injuries have added up and they haven’t been insignificant.
<img src=”/-/media/images/news/2024/07/04/20/00/murray-wimbledon-2024-thursday-doubles.jpg” style=”width:100%;” alt=”Jamie Murray and Andy Murray” />
Photo Credit: Julian Finney/Getty Images
“I want to play forever. I love the sport. It’s given me so much, taught me loads of lessons over the years that I can use in the rest of my life. But I don’t want to stop, so it is hard.”
During his press conference after leaving Centre Court, Murray said, “When the video was playing, my head was spinning a lot. I know I’m about to have to speak. It’s difficult in those moments ’cause there’s a lot of people you want to thank and address, but it is not easy. It was pretty emotional, as well. Yeah, watching the video was nice, but hard as well, for me because you know it’s coming to the end of something that you’ve absolutely loved doing for such a long time. So that’s difficult.”
[ATP APP]Murray revealed that he did not know two of his daughters would be in attendance. “When we were waiting in the locker room beforehand, I saw on one of the TVs that they were there sitting next to my wife. It was nice,” Murray said. “They’ve only been to one other match that I played and sat in the stands before, in Nottingham last year. I didn’t even know. I didn’t know they were there. It was nice they managed to make it.”
At the end of the interview, Murray was congratulated by a lineup of past Wimbledon champions including Djokovic, John McEnroe, Martina Navratilova, Lleyton Hewitt and Conchita Martinez. He was also embraced by current WTA World No. 1 Iga Swiatek and British stars Tim Henman, Cameron Norrie, Jack Draper and Daniel Evans, as well as Holger Rune.
<img src=”/-/media/images/news/2024/07/04/21/41/murray-wimbledon-2024-sendoff2.jpg” style=”width:100%;” alt=”Novak Djokovic shares an embrace with Andy Murray.” />
Photo Credit: Julian Finney/Getty Images
In the minds of much of the British public, Murray is the man who took over the task of snapping the host nation’s long wait for a Wimbledon men’s singles champion from Henman. The four-time semi-finalist Henman was the last person to congratulate Murray, who ultimately ended the nation’s 77-year wait in 2013, before he shared a long embrace with his brother Jamie and walked off court to a standing ovation.
Jamie said: “I think it was a fun experience for me to be out there and play with him. Obviously it was kind of strange knowing what the sort of background to the match was.
But yeah, it was cool to be able to do that. I think the club did a really nice kind of tribute at the end. It was really nice that so many players stuck around for that, as well. It was nice to see some of the guys on court with Andy afterwards.”
<img src=”/-/media/images/news/2024/07/04/21/42/murray-wimbledon-2024-sendoff3.jpg” style=”width:100%;” alt=”British fans give a rousing farewell to their favourite tennis son, Andy Murray.” />
Photo Credit: Julian Finney/Getty Images
To conclude the brothers’ press conference, Andy said: “They did a really nice job this evening. I’m glad that it’s done now. Obviously [I will] try and enjoy the mixed doubles in a couple days’ time. It should be fun.
Then got a family holiday planned after this, then the Olympics, that’s it.”
In other Thursday doubles action, third seeds Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury made a confident start on the All England Club grass with a 7-5, 6-4 triumph against Willem Blumberg and Casper Ruud. Fourth seeds Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic also advanced after defeating N.Sriram Balaji and Luke Johnson 6-4, 7-5.
<img src=”/-/media/images/news/2024/07/04/21/06/murray-wimbledon-2024-thursday-walkoff.jpg” style=”width:100%;” alt=”Andy Murray” />
Photo Credit: Julian Finney/Getty Images
[NEWSLETTER FORM]
Both 11th seed Stefanos Tsitsipas and seventh seed Hubert Hurkacz were knocked out in the second round at Wimbledon.
History has been made at The Championships and only two rounds have been played.
With Grigor Dimitrov’s 5-7, 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 victory against Shang Juncheng, there have already been nine comebacks from two sets down this week. That equals the Open Era record for most comebacks from two sets down in a single edition of Wimbledon, tying 1974, 1990 and 1997.
“I kept on believing in myself, in my body, in my fitness, and everything that I have put in throughout these past months,” Dimitrov said.
[ATP APP]Eight of the nine two-set comebacks happened in the first round of the tournament. Dimitrov’s victory was the first in the second round.
“I don’t think about it because it’s the first week of the Slam, so you’re looking after your own lane right now. You want to kind of go through this momentum and whatever match you have in front of you,” Dimitrov said. “I for one don’t think about it. Even today when I was two sets down, I was just trying to focus on what I had to do in front of me. As I said, it’s very difficult.”
2024 Wimbledon Two-Set Comebacks
| Round | Result |
| 2 | Grigor Dimitrov d. Shang Juncheng 5-7, 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 |
| 1 | Thanasi Kokkinakis d. Felix Auger-Aliassime 4-6, 5-7, 7-6(9), 6-4, 6-4 |
| 1 | Roman Safiullin d. Francisco Cerundolo 6-7(5), 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 |
| 1 | Tomas Machac d. David Goffin 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, 7-6(10-5) |
| 1 | Lloyd Harris d. Alex Michelsen 3-6, 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-2, 7-6(11-9) |
| 1 | Jordan Thompson d. Pavel Kotov 5-7, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 |
| 1 | Frances Tiafoe d. Matteo Arnaldi 6-7(5), 2-6, 6-1, 6-3, 6-3 |
| 1 | Alexander Bublik d. Jakub Mensik 4-6, 6-7(2), 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 |
| 1 | Thiago Seyboth Wild d. Paul Jubb 1-6, 3-6, 7-6(6), 6-4, 7-5 |
Harriet Dart shocks British number one Katie Boulter in an extraordinary final-set tie-beak to reach the Wimbledon third round.
Arthur Fils broke new Grand Slam ground in dramatic circumstances on Thursday afternoon at Wimbledon.
The #NextGenATP Frenchman reached the third round at a major for the first time after Hubert Hurkacz retired from an engrossing clash on No. 2 Court. Fils held match point at 7-6(2), 6-4, 2-6, 6-6 (9/8) when Hurkacz retired due to a leg injury he had suffered just three points prior.
“It’s very tough to win a match like this against a friend,” said Fils in his on-court interview. “We were playing super good in the fourth set. We had some great points, and he was jumping everywhere. I’m really sorry for him and I hope he will recover very quickly. Me, I’m focused on the next round.”
[ATP APP]At 7/7 in the fourth-set tie-break, Hurkacz grabbed the back of his right leg after pulling off a full-length dive for a volley. His shot dribbled over the net and Fils missed a very makeable ball into the net to hand the Pole a set point at 8/7. But Hurkacz’s efforts came at a cost as he received physio treatment on the court at spot of his dive, before hopping to his chair.
After the physio further massaged Hurkacz’s leg, the seventh seed returned to court, but appeared severely hindered by the injury. Fils promptly won the next two points before Hurkacz retired from the pair’s maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head clash.
The 20-year-old Fils will next take on Tomas Machac or Roman Safiullin in the third round at the All England Club. It will be just his 10th tour-level match on grass, a surface on which he is growing more comfortable. Two weeks ago, the No. 34-ranked Fils reached his maiden ATP Tour grass quarter-final in Halle.
“First of all I didn’t really like the grass,” said Fils after moving past Hurkacz. “I’m feeling that I’m playing pretty good and I’m really happy to be in the third round. I will try my best to be in the second week.”
Progressing through another round at Wimbledon has also boosted Fils’ lead in the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah. The Frenchman, who reached the championship match at the 2023 Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF, is now 311 points clear of second-placed Jakub Mensik in the Live Race.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]
Joe Salisbury and Rajeev Ram cruise into the second round of the men’s doubles at Wimbledon with a straight-set win.
How can a player prepare to face Novak Djokovic on Centre Court at Wimbledon?
Briton Jake Fearnley has had to answer that question since advancing to the second round on Tuesday to earn a place in the biggest match of his career. According to coach Juan Martin, who was Fearnley’s teammate for two years at Texas Christian University, it has been a team effort.
Fearnley has a big team around him, including Martin, Tennis Scotland coach Toby Smith, LTA coach Mark Hilton and TCU coaches Devin Bowen and David Roditi. The LTA physical staff and analytics team have also been among those involved in helping ready Fearnley for 24-time major champion Djokovic.
“Toby and Mark are very involved still, but even Jake agrees that it’s just better for him to have only one voice. All the coaches speak together and I act almost as a filter,” Martin said. “So far, we’ve all agreed on everything. I just communicate to Jake whatever the team is thinking.”
Before the Nottingham ATP Challenger Tour event last month, Fearnley had never won a match at that level. Now he will step on Centre Court at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday to play a man who has lifted the trophy at The Championships seven times.
“It’s very exciting. I think pretty much every tennis player, you talk about how you would play Novak. That’s just what you do. I think there’s so much stuff out there on how to prepare to play against Novak. Obviously there is not a lot of accurate information because the guy just takes you to the absolute limit,” Martin said. “But to be honest, we just have our plan ready and we’re going to try our best and Jake’s going to go out there and try to bring his game, bring it to him and see what happens.”
Fearnley’s focus will be on himself and playing the game to the best of his ability. For nearly two decades, Djokovic has frustrated opponents with his steady baseline play and timely offensive bursts. There is no plan for the home favourite to try to out-Djokovic the man himself.
“[Jake] has a big game. His game is just very aggressive, which I think fits for what Novak does to you,” Martin said. “I think that you need to be aggressive, you can’t just start rallying with the guy. He has a good game to play Novak I think, so that’s why I think that he needs to just focus on himself, do his thing and compete.
“We know what Novak wants to do, but you need to focus on yourself. I don’t think you’re going to beat him at his game and doing what he does. He’s probably the best tennis player to ever step on the court. So I think that you just need to take your game to the limit. It’s more on us to see what we can do.”
There is also the mental challenge of standing across the net from Djokovic. A couple of months ago, Fearnley was playing college tennis in the United States. Now he is facing a 98-time tour-level titlist with millions of fans around the world watching.
“I think that if you pick up a racquet as a kid, that’s your dream, to play on this court against Roger, Rafa or Novak. That’s pretty much what you want, what you dream of as a kid. I think that college is a great way to get you ready for that because there’s so much pressure, great rivalries. Your match is make it or break it,” Martin said. “I think that you just need to come from a place of gratefulness and enjoyment.”
[ATP APP]According to Martin, Fearnley has told him how excited he is for the opportunity. The coach recalled: “He was just telling me yesterday, ‘Wow mate, if you would have told me that I will play Novak on Centre Court at Wimbledon in five months I would have told you no way’. Obviously, he is incredibly excited, ready for tomorrow. He’s really looking forward to it. And he has a good team and good friends and family behind him.”
Fearnley said in a press conference after his first-round win: “It’s the biggest match of my career so far. Just to be able to share the court with a player like that will be really special.”
The plan is for the 22-year-old to head to Aorangi Park for 9:45 a.m. to get his equipment ready, preparing his shoes, ankle bracelets, wristbands, grips and anything else he needs. At 10, he will begin a physical warmup with some mobility work and then a warmup for his explosive movement. Fearnley will then practise from 10:30 until 11:30 a.m., eat a light lunch and get ready to take the court at 1:30 p.m.
As Martin said, this is a moment kids dream about.
“He’s still young. There’s still a long road ahead,” Martin said. “But he’s very clear, he’s here to win and we’re going to go for it.”
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Jannik Sinner defeats Matteo Berrettini in an epic Italian showdown to reach the third round at Wimbledon.