Birmingham Classic: Heather Watson & Harriet Dart out of doubles, top seed Elise Mertens loses
Britons Heather Watson and Harriet Dart lose in the first round of the doubles at the Birmingham Classic.
Britons Heather Watson and Harriet Dart lose in the first round of the doubles at the Birmingham Classic.
Denis Shapovalov was tested Tuesday evening, but he served his way into the second round at the cinch Championships.
The second seed had to save a total of four set points between the two sets, but he clawed past Australian qualifier Aleksandar Vukic 7-6(6), 7-6(6) behind 20 aces.
“Definitely not an easy, breezy match,” Shapovalov said in his on-court interview. “Super happy to be back here and get the win. I’ve got so many great memories over here at Queen’s. it’s so nice to see you fans back out here and I really appreciated the support today.”
Shapovalov won 83 per cent of his service points — including 90 per cent of his first-serve points — but he still found himself down 5/6 in the first-set tie-break and 3/6 in the second-set tie-break. The World No. 14 was able to stay calm during those points and avoid making mistakes to battle on.
“Any time of the grass-court season, it’s super tough to get a rhythm, so it’s very important to serve big,” Shapovalov said. “I think we both just served amazing today. I feel obviously very lucky to win this match today. It could have gone either way, so I’m very, very proud of myself.”
The Canadian will next play fellow lefty, Feliciano Lopez, who is a two-time singles champion at this tournament. The 39-year-old defeated Illya Marchenko 6-1, 7-6(6) on Monday.
Also in Shapovalov’s section, Frances Tiafoe beat Aljaz Bedene 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. The American is in form after lifting an ATP Challenger Tour trophy last week in Nottingham.
Watch highlights as Great Britain’s Andy Murray returns to grass court action after three years with a 6-3 6-2 win over France’s Benoit Paire at Queen’s club in London.
An emotional Andy Murray makes a winning return in his first singles match on grass for three years as he reaches the second round at Queen’s.
Watch some of the best shots as Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic stuns top seed Elise Mertens in the first round of the Birmingham Classic.
World number one Novak Djokovic will prepare for the defence of his Wimbledon title by playing doubles in Mallorca.
Top seed Matteo Berrettini had to rally from a break down in both sets of his 7-6(5), 7-6(4) victory over Stefano Travaglia on Tuesday to seal a spot in the second round of cinch Championships at The Queen’s Club.
In his tournament debut, Berrettini improved to 22-6 on the season after claiming his first victory of the grass-court season. The Italian has tasted success on this surface before, with one of his four tour-level titles coming on the lawns of Stuttgart in 2019 (d. Auger-Aliassime).
“It’s always a fight [against Stefano]. We know each other pretty well,” Berrettini said in an on-court interview. “We’ve played twice on the ATP Tour, but we’ve played so many more times in Futures, so I’ve known this guy for a long time. He’s always a great opponent, so well done to him. But I’m happy for my win.
“It really helps me to have so many [Italian] guys [in the Top 100] because you find new energy, and our quality is really high. We practise with each other all the time… It’s really helpful.”
The No.9-ranked Italian was sidelined for much of the early part of the 2021 season due to an abdominal injury, but he bounced back in style during the clay-court swing. Berrettini lifted a trophy at the Serbia Open and reached the final at the Mutua Madrid Open (l. to Zverev).
Now that’s how you wrap up your 1️⃣st @QueensTennis win#cinchChampionships @MattBerrettini pic.twitter.com/K1cIecJlHT
— LTA (@the_LTA) June 15, 2021
He needed a few games to adjust to the new surface after falling behind a break to countryman Travaglia, No. 88 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, on Tuesday. Berrettini trailed by 0-3 in the first set as Travaglia struck short and compact shots on the slick grass, before the top seed found his feet. He again fell behind by 0-2 in the second set, but he recovered quickly to level the score before Travaglia ran away with it.
Berrettini edged through in both tie-breaks, securing the win to improve to 2-0 in the ATP Head2Head against his countryman. All four sets they have played have gone to tie-breaks, and all four have been won by Berrettini.
[WATCH LIVE 1]Berrettini’s strong serving kept him from getting into too much trouble on Center Court. He won 81 per cent (44/54) of points behind his booming first serve, fired 14 aces, and saved four of the six break points he faced across one hour and 54 minutes.
He will want to keep improving those figures as he looks ahead to a potential second-round meeting against five-time Queen’s Club champion Andy Murray. The Brit, who took a wild card into his first tour-level singles event since March, takes on Benoit Paire later in the day.
“I’m really looking forward to playing my next match with a crowd,” Berrettini said, before adding with a smile, “I would rather have [a crowd cheering] against me than nobody.”
For Christopher Eubanks, this moment was three years in the making. On Sunday, the American earned his second ATP Challenger Tour title and first since 2018, prevailing on the hard courts of Orlando.
It was a long-awaited return to the winners’ circle for the 25-year-old, who turned in an impressive week at the USTA National Campus. Straight-set wins over former World No. 38 Nicolas Jarry and reigning NCAA champion Sam Riffice were followed by a 2-6, 7-6(3), 6-4 comeback victory over Colombia’s Nicolas Mejia in the final.
Eubanks weathered the storm, literally, in claiming his second Challenger title. The championship clash was suspended twice due to torrential rain in central Florida, before concluding indoors. In the end, he would deny Mejia his maiden title with a determined performance.
After enduring such a long title drought, Eubanks admits that these are the victories that validate all the hard work and hours off the court. The former Georgia Tech University standout is returning to his roots, getting back to basics on the court after struggling to find his top form in recent years. The Atlanta native, who reached a career-high No. 147 in April 2019, is on the rise once again. He is knocking on the door of the Top 200 of the FedEx ATP Rankings, rising 36 spots to No. 205 on Monday.
Photo: USTA
Eubanks spoke to broadcaster Mike Cation following his victory in Orlando…
Congrats Chris. It’s been three years since your last singles title. How much were you thinking about that and how satisfying is this moment?
Of course, you can’t help but think about it. Three years is a long time out here. In 2018, I had just come out of college, was playing big tennis and didn’t really know what I was doing. As you start to gain more and more experience on the tour, a lot more factors came into your head: defending points, what surfaces to play on and other things.
But when you’re first starting, you just see the ball and hit it. Now, you look to maximize what you have and limit the turmoil and confusion. This week, I was able to get back to that innocence and play free and have fun. It did feel like a long three years and I was getting frustrated that I couldn’t continue my progression, but I am happy to take a title this week and continue moving forward.
This week, you seemed more relaxed and playing with some freedom. Would you say that’s an accurate assessment?
I’m definitely playing with a lot more freedom. I’m having a lot more fun than I’ve had in a while. I can’t remember the last time I was on the court and just relaxed, smiling and laughing at good and bad shots. It’s been a while since I’ve had that feeling. It’s definitely a point of emphasis just to relax and have fun. I definitely care about the result, but after a couple matches of seeing how I was able to play free, I was telling myself that I need to do it more often.
In the second set, the final moved indoors. You were down 6-2, 1-1. What changed after that?
I think it was a combination of some nerves and also Nico came out playing well. I wasn’t super super tight, but he was hitting the ball very clean. He was hitting the ball through the court and the conditions were fast. Usually I’m the guy making people feel that way, so it was new to me. He was locked in and reading my serve really well. That got me rattled when my serves would come back right at my feet. I was serving well in the other matches, but it’s tough to play free when the other guy seems to be reading it like a book.
In that second rain delay, [coach Philip Gresk] and I were just laughing and keeping it loose. When we moved indoors, I was able to come out playing more freely. I had a big game where I was facing a 15/40 and he didn’t break. At that point, I felt that I could turn the match around. That was a big opportunity for him, so I felt momentum going in my favour. I started connecting and serving well from that point.
It’s not just your first title, but your first final in three years. And you closed it out pretty emphatically in the third set. That must feel like a validation moment for you as well.
Absolutely. I went through a bit of a funk recently, where I couldn’t serve things out. I couldn’t serve out sets. Like at the ATP [250] in Singapore, I got broken serving out a set and that carried into other matches where I was up a break and couldn’t finish it. In one of my matches this week, I remember I served out a match and I told Philip how good it felt to serve one out for a change.
I’ve been winning tie-breaks but there’s nothing like being up a break and holding to the end. Getting through those last couple service games were big. I tried to stay as focused as I could. I held to love and 15 in my last two service games and was pretty locked in.
2021 American Challenger Champions
| Player | Titles | Tournaments Won |
| Jenson Brooksby | 3 | Potchefstroom-2, Orlando-1, Tallahassee |
| Christopher Eubanks | 1 | Orlando-2 |
| Bjorn Fratangelo | 1 | Cleveland |
| Sebastian Korda | 1 | Quimper-1 |
| Mackenzie McDonald | 1 | Nur Sultan-1 |
| Brandon Nakashima | 1 | Quimper-2 |
| Jack Sock | 1 | Little Rock |
| Frances Tiafoe | 1 | Nottingham-1 |
How do you translate this sense of playing free into continued success going forward? It’s a hard thing to do.
It’s extremely hard, but I think that being three years into my career and having that experience of playing free but then getting in my own head, making that mistake is enough to say to myself that I’m just going to keep playing like I’ve been playing.
Before the French Open, I trained a bit in Nice at the Mouratoglou Academy with Kerei Abakar. Kerei is very blunt and one of the things he said was that he followed by progress on tour from being No. 150 to around 240. He asked me what’s going on with my results? I said that I felt like I needed to tweak some stuff, because when I first started on tour I was just out there seeing the ball and hitting the ball. He said, ‘well go right back to that’.
He said that my serve and forehand are good enough when I’m playing free. Cut out all the extra noise and see ball and hit ball. Go back to that. That was the big thing this week. I didn’t do it so much at Roland Garros qualies, but I feel it does take some time to get back to that. I started connecting at the right times. I’m hopefully going to continue to progress doing that.
I must say that you and Frances Tiafoe [in Nottingham] winning Challenger titles today is pretty significant.
Oh man, that’s awesome. I didn’t even check his result yet. That’s great for him. Big Foe has been holding that mantle for a while for the Americans, especially the African-Americans, so to see him doing well on the grass and then me coming here and winning, it’s a positive sign. I was a little bummed waking up this morning and seeing [Felix Auger-Aliassime] lost [the ATP Tour final in Stuttgart], because I was hoping he could pull out his first title. That’s pretty cool though, I didn’t know Frances won. It’s a good day.
How are you celebrating?
I’m going to go rest. It’s a hot and humid week here. I’m going to hit the shower, get some food and just rest. I have no plans. I’ll take tomorrow off and get a lift in, in the gym, and then get back to work. Hopefully I can sneak into Wimbledon qualies. I’m currently not in, but we’ll see how that goes. If I don’t get in, I’ll just prep for the summer hard-court swing. That’s always a fun time.
Aslan Karatsev arrived at the cinch Championships without a grass-court tour-level match on his resumé, but it did not take the Russian long to adjust on Monday evening.
The 2021 breakthrough star rallied past Chilean lucky loser Alejandro Tabilo 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 to reach the second round at The Queen’s Club. Karatsev had only previously played four tournaments on this surface at any level — including two Wimbledon qualifying attempts in 2014 and 2015 — and tallied a 1-4 record.
“[It’s] completely different than the other surfaces,” Karatsev said in his on-court interview. “It was the first match, a tough opponent, lefty. I got used to it and in the end I found the way to manage it.”
The fifth seed struggled gaining control of points in the first set, in which he did not earn a break point. But Karatsev found his rhythm as the match wore on, and he won 75 per cent of his second-serve points en route to a one-hour, 38-minute victory.
“The second set was a bit tricky. I broke him, and then in the third set he started really slowly,” Karatsev said. “I got used to his serve and I returned everything that I could. It was easier for me [from there].”
Karatsev will next play British lefty Cameron Norrie, who clawed past Spanish veteran Albert Ramos-Vinolas 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 earlier in the day. This will be their first ATP Head2Head meeting.
Norrie, like Karatsev, has enjoyed the best season of his career and he is up to a career-high No. 41 in the FedEx ATP Rankings. The 25-year-old is now 26-12 in 2021, putting him fourth on this year’s match wins leaderboard according to Infosys ATP Stats.
Also moving on was two-time tournament champion Feliciano Lopez, who overpowered qualifier Illya Marchenko 6-1, 7-6(6) behind 12 aces. The 39-year-old Spaniard lifted both the singles and double (w/Andy Murray) trophies here two years ago.
Wimbledon’s men’s and women’s finals will be played in front of full capacity crowds – the first UK outdoor sporting events to do so since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
