Wimbledon 2021: Andy Murray on losing to Denis Shapovalov
Andy Murray says he needs to weigh up “if all the hard work is worth it” after an encouraging run at Wimbledon is ended by Canada’s Denis Shapovalov.
Andy Murray says he needs to weigh up “if all the hard work is worth it” after an encouraging run at Wimbledon is ended by Canada’s Denis Shapovalov.
Britain’s Jamie Murray and Brazilian partner Bruno Soares are into the second round of the men’s doubles at Wimbledon.
Watch highlights as Andy Murray’s run at Wimbledon comes to end with a third-round 6-4 6-2 6-2 defeat by Canadian Denis Shapovalov.
Nick Kyrgios and Venus Williams’ blockbuster mixed doubles partnership gets off to a winning start with a three-set victory over US duo Austin Krajicek and Sabrina Santamaria.
Sebastian Korda had not played in the main draw of The Championships at Wimbledon prior to this week, let along on Centre Court, but the #NextGenATP American competed with great maturity and composure on Friday for a place in the fourth round.
Korda revelled in the atmosphere, silencing the majority of the British support, to record a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over home hope Daniel Evans, the 21st seed, in two hours and 24 minutes.
“I just stayed calm in the biggest moments as much as I could,” said Korda. “I tried to stay relaxed and keep playing attacking tennis, that’s what I do. I’m really proud of myself for that today.”
“[It’s] a big achievement. A year ago, I was 220 in the world and I’m here in the fourth round at Wimbledon. It’s incredible. I have my family to thank, my coaches and everybody around me.”
Twenty-six years ago, his father, Petr Korda, had made his Centre Court debut by defeating fifth-seeded American Michael Chang 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 in the 1995 second round.
On Monday, when Korda celebrates his 21st birthday, the American will hope to overcome Russian 25th seed Karen Khachanov for a place in the Wimbledon quarter-finals. Should the World No. 50 triumph, he will match his father’s best performance at the All England Club, which came with a run to the 1998 last eight (l. to Henman).
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In a quick-fire first set, which lasted 25 minutes, Korda broke for a 5-3 lead after two consecutive forehand errors from Evans. Korda hit his 12th winner — a high forehand volley — to complete a strong performance, having won 20 of 26 service points.
Errors cost Korda at 2-3 in the second set, triggering a surge in confidence from Evans, who lost seven service points in the 34-minute passage of play. On three occasions, Korda came within a point of a 5-2 lead in the third set only to lose serve. However, a forehand error from Evans in the eighth game gifted Korda a chance to serve for the set.
While Evans took a 4-2 lead in the fourth set, the World No. 26 soon handed the break back to Korda. Once Evans hit a double fault at 4-4, 30/30, Korda didn’t look back and his opponent was left to shout from his chair, “Practise your serve, you’ve got to practise your serve”. Korda finished the match with a smash winner, raising his arms in celebration.
Earlier this season, Korda, who is now 21-9 on the season, captured his first ATP Tour title in April at the Emilia-Romagna Open in Parma (d. Cecchinato). He also finished as runner-up at the Delray Beach Open by VITACOST.com (l. to Hurkacz).
Last weekend, Korda’s sister, Nelly, captured her first Grand Slam golf tournament at the Women’s PGA Championships in Atlanta. “My dad won a Grand Slam [the 1998 Australian Open],” said Korda. “My sister just won her first major and is the No. 1 golfer in the world, so it’s super inspiring. It’s crazy.”
Having come into the Grand Slam championship in third position in the ATP Race To Milan, Korda has further boosted his chance of a place at the Next Gen ATP Finals, to be held from 9-13 November.
Aryna Sabalenka makes the fourth round of Wimbledon for the first time after a 6-0 6-3 win over Maria Camila Osorio Serrano.
With a few of the bottom half contenders out of the draw already, there is a lot of intrigue to see who will advance to the final…
Novak Djokovic looks to extend his slam winning streak to 17 matches on Friday afternoon, taking on Denis Kudla in what should…
There’s high chance of another drama filled evening this week as Andy Murray takes to the court for his third round…
Wimbledon is “extra special” for Denis Kudla. It’s the tournament he has always dreamt of winning. And for a boy with a dream, the American has done well, competing in the main draw of The Championships seven times.
Kudla’s problem is that his next opponent is five-time champion Novak Djokovic, the World No. 1. Although defeating the 19-time Grand Slam winner is a daunting task for any player, the World No. 114 believes his mindset will be key.
“You need to go in playing these guys with all the belief in the world, execute my game plan,” Kudla said. “I need to play my ‘A’ game to beat him and the only way I’m going to do that is if I let it go, play free and believe.”
The first time Kudla played Djokovic was at Wimbledon two years ago, he was unable to play freely. The American did not find a way to settle down and he lost in just 93 minutes.
“Obviously Novak being tough as nails, I just didn’t settle at all. I was down 5-0 in about 10 minutes and I thought my worst nightmare was going to happen,” Kudla said. “Then at the [US] Open when I played him [later in 2019], I really settled. I was able to kind of push him a little bit more. But now going into this third match, I know what to expect. I know I’m capable of winning certain patterns if I execute in certain ways.”
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Djokovic is known for torturing opponents with his return of serve and Gumby-like flexibility. And according to Kudla, there are many more issues than that to deal with.
“His movement is pretty incredible when you’re playing him and then I think his serve is completely underrated,” Kudla said. “He was just hitting spot serves on big points and it was pretty difficult.”
Kudla has broken Djokovic just twice in six sets, and has not taken more than four games in a set against the all-time great. But one thing he has on his side is comfort on grass. The Ukrainian-born righty remembers playing an ITF juniors event in Philadelphia when he was a teen. Although he has grown to play his best tennis on the surface, it was not a perfect start.
“It was the worst grass. [I had] no idea what to do. We tried to serve and volley, but we were a bunch of 15, 16-year-olds that had no idea how to volley or do anything. Our serves were so slow, so it was not effective whatsoever and we were just messing around, not doing anything professional,” Kudla said. “It was an eye-opening experience.”
Once Kudla started to compete in professional events, grass began to grow on him. The American won his first ATP Tour match on the surface in Newport when he was 17. In 2015, he earned his career-best Grand Slam result when he advanced to the fourth round at Wimbledon.
“I didn’t necessarily do that great in the juniors, but coming into the pros as I got stronger, I hit the ball harder, I kind of knew my identity as a player,” Kudla said. “I knew that grass was going to be the best surface for me.”
Standing 5’11”, Kudla does not overwhelm opponents with jaw-dropping shotmaking. But he adjusts well to a grass court’s low bounces and manouevres the ball around the court to make things difficult for those across the net. The American also has an experienced grass-court player on his team in coach Robert Lindstedt, who made the Wimbledon doubles final in three consecutive years (2010-12).
Kudla believes that when facing an opponent of Djokovic’s calibre, players need to create their own game plan. But he does not shy away from looking to see what other players do successfully against the Serbian.
“You do look at guys [who] have been successful against Novak and have similar game styles as myself and see what was successful and what wasn’t successful,” Kudla said. “I’m not going to watch how Fed played Novak because I don’t play anything like Fed, so whatever he’s doing, I’m not going to be able to do that.
“It’s also just really tough to get any data on Novak that’s successful because he just wins so much, so all you’re going to see is a better way of not losing so badly.”
Kudla knows he has a big opportunity in front of him. Win or lose, he is eager for that chance.
“You want to play these guys early, you don’t want to play them late because they’re getting better and better,” Kudla said. “I’m looking forward to the challenge.”