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Aegon Classic: Angelique Kerber & Petra Kvitova through in Birmingham

  • Posted: Jun 14, 2016

Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber and two-time Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova advanced in straight sets at the Aegon Classic in Birmingham.

German second seed Kerber saw off Shuai Peng 7-6 (7-3) 6-3, while Kvitova beat fellow Czech Lucie Safarova 6-3 6-2.

Britain’s Tara Moore was one set all against Tamira Paszek, with compatriot Naomi Broady leading Daria Gavrilova 6-4 2-4, when rain intervened.

In Mallorca, French Open winner Garbine Muguruza lost in the first round.

The Spaniard was the top seed at the event which is making its debut on the calendar this year, but lost 6-3 6-4 to Belgium’s Kirsten Flipkens in her first match since beating Serena Williams in the Roland Garros final on 4 June.

The weather in Birmingham prevented British number one Johanna Konta playing her first-round meeting with Japan’s Misaki Doi. Their match is third on court in Wednesday’s order of play.

British number three Broady will play Kerber in the second round if she overcomes Australian Gavrilova.

Moore, who reached the final of the Nottingham event last week, would face American seventh seed Madison Keys next.

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NextGen Zverev Moves On In Halle

  • Posted: Jun 14, 2016

NextGen Zverev Moves On In Halle

Jun142016

German looking for deep run in his home country

NextGen player Alexander Zverev moved into the second round of the Gerry Weber Open on Tuesday with a 6-4, 6-4 win over seventh seed Viktor Troicki of Serbia.

The 19-year-old German erased five of six break points and was three-for-three in breaking Troicki. “Viktor is a very good grass-court player,” Zverev said. “So I feel pretty good. I’m playing well. I didn’t do a lot of mistakes and served quite well, as well as returned quite well which is probably the most important on grass.”

Zverev, No. 38 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, will face countryman Benjamin Becker in the second round in Halle. Zverev won their prior FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting last year on clay in Munich.

American Taylor Fritz, another NextGen player, fell on Tuesday 6-7(4), 6-2, 6-3 to Japanese qualifier Yuichi Sugita. Their match resumed in the first-set tie-break on Tuesday after rain halted play on Monday.

In a rematch of the 2007 Halle final, fourth seed Tomas Berdych faces Marcos Baghdatis in the first round. Berdych leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry 4-2, including the win in Halle in 2007.

German wild card Dustin Brown faces Albert Ramos-Vinolas, who’s fresh off a career-best quarter-finals appearance at Roland Garros.

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Maria Sharapova files appeal to Court of Arbitration for Sport over two-year ban

  • Posted: Jun 14, 2016

Maria Sharapova has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) after being banned from tennis for two years for using a prohibited drug.

Sharapova, who tested positive for meldonium at January’s Australian Open, was last week suspended by the International Tennis Federation (ITF).

The 29-year-old, a five-time Grand Slam winner, said in her appeal her ban should be “eliminated” or reduced.

Cas said it would rule on the Russian’s case by 18 July.

A statement from Sharapova’s lawyer said the ITF’s tribunal reflected the player “did not intend to violate the rules”.

It added she was given an “unfairly harsh suspension because she is such a famous athlete and they wanted to make an example out of her”.

  • Sharapova ban a ‘powerful message’ – Judy Murray
  • Sharapova – The story behind her downfall

Sharapova says she has been taking meldonium, a heart disease drug, since 2006 for health issues. It became a banned substance on 1 January 2016.

She has admitted she continued taking the substance past that date, saying she was unaware it had been added to the banned list as she knew it by another name – mildronate.

The ITF tribunal ruling said Sharapova tested positive for meldonium in an out-of-competition test on 2 February, as well as in the aftermath of her Australian Open quarter-final defeat by Serena Williams on 26 January.

It treated both results as a single anti-doping violation, with Sharapova’s ban backdated to 26 January.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) said it would “review the decision, including its reasoning” before deciding whether to appeal.

Aged 17, Sharapova became the first Russian to win Wimbledon, added the US Open in 2006 and the Australian Open in 2008, before completing a career Grand Slam with the French Open title in 2012.

She won the French Open again in 2014, but the 2018 tournament in Paris is the next major Sharapova can enter, unless her ban is reduced.

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Andy Murray and Ivan Lendl reunited at Queen's Club

  • Posted: Jun 14, 2016

Ivan Lendl returned to coaching duties with Andy Murray for the first time in over two years on Tuesday.

The Czech-born American took charge of an hour-long coaching session at Queen’s Club in London.

Murray is scheduled to play France’s Nicolas Mahut in his opening match at the Aegon Championships at around 13:00 BST.

However, their practice session was cut short by rain and more is forecast throughout the day.

Lendl arrived from the United States on Monday evening, having last week agreed a deal to resume his coaching role alongside Murray.

The pair split in March 2014 after a successful two-year period that saw Murray win his only Grand Slam titles at the US Open and Wimbledon, as well as Olympic gold.

Their practice session on Monday lasted an hour before the rain arrived, with British number seven Alex Ward providing the opposition across the net.

Lendl worked in tandem with Jamie Delgado, who joined Murray’s coaching set-up earlier this year, with the former world number one directing the drills.

Mahut, ranked 51st, should provide a stern test of Murray’s grass-court level when the pair meet, the Frenchman having won an ATP title on the surface in the Netherlands on Monday.

Murray, a four-time champion at Queen’s Club, lost to Mahut in the second round in 2012.

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In Halle, Federer Compliments NextGen's Potential

  • Posted: Jun 14, 2016

In Halle, Federer Compliments NextGen's Potential

Jun132016

Eight-time Halle champion looks for another positive tournament on grass this week

Roger Federer hopes to enjoy a long stay in Halle this week at the Gerry Weber Open, his second grass-court event in as many weeks. But the World No. 3 also thinks some up-and-coming players could make a deep run on the grass.

Monday’s Stuttgart champion Dominic Thiem and NextGen players Taylor Fritz and Alexander Zverev all have the potential to surprise some people at the ATP World Tour 500 event, Federer said.

“Regarding Thiem, it depends on how tired he is. He really fought his way through last week plus Paris before. That was a huge task last week,” Federer said of the 22-year-old Austrian, who beat Federer in the semi-finals in Stuttgart and reached the semi-finals at Roland Garros. “[Eighteen-year-old] Fritz surely has potential, he loves playing on grass. I played him last week. I think he will have a great career.”

Federer also thinks the 19-year-old Zverev, who faces Viktor Troicki in the first round, could make a run in his home country. “Troicki will not be easy but if he gets through that match and gets into a rhythm he might make it to the semis or finals, that’s absolutely realistic,” he said. “I like Alex’s game. Therefore, I am curious what he will achieve over the coming years.”

Federer also called Frenchman Lucas Pouille, who fell in three sets on Monday to World No. 6 Kei Nishikori, “a huge talent”.

The eight-time Halle champion also talked about himself. He said his back continues to feel better, and he’s glad to have another week of grass-court tennis ahead of him.

“It’s much better. I served normally last week, served a lot of aces and also quite a few into the net because I haven’t found my rhythm yet. But at the end it was quite good. I was happy,” Federer said of his back. “Every day that goes by is a step forward, and every match is a step forward.”

Federer won two matches at the MercedesCup in Stuttgart, beating Fritz in three sets and sweeping German veteran Florian Mayer in two sets before losing to Thiem. Federer, though, held a match point against the Austrian.

“I’m just hoping I can keep up a good level from Stuttgart. It got better as the tournament progressed. It was unfortunate that I couldn’t win against Thiem but after all I felt improvement throughout,” Federer said.

The top-seeded Federer will play German wild card Jan-Lennard Struff in the first round.

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Top Seed Klizan Looks Ahead To Poprad Tatry Challenger 2016

  • Posted: Jun 13, 2016

Top Seed Klizan Looks Ahead To Poprad Tatry Challenger 2016

Jun132016

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Johnson Earns Biggest Career Win In London

  • Posted: Jun 13, 2016

Johnson Earns Biggest Career Win In London

Jun132016

American moves into the second round on the grass

American Steve Johnson earned his first career Top 10 win on Monday, sweeping World No. 10 Richard Gasquet 7-6(2), 6-2 at the Aegon Championships in London. The 26-year-old had been 0-13 against Top 10 foes before Monday.

Gasquet had a set point on his racquet before a lengthy rain delay halted the match at 5-all. After the rain stopped, Johnson took the tie-break and earned two breaks of serve in the second set to move into the second round.

Last year’s runner-up Kevin Anderson qualified at The Queen’s Club by beating Czech Jiri Vesely 7-6(2), 7-6(5). In last year’s final, Anderson fell to Andy Murray, who also returns to the ATP World Tour 500 event this year.

Canadian Vasek Pospisil also qualified on Monday, overcoming World No. 136 Tobias Kamke of Germany 3-6, 7-5, 6-3.

The Aegon Championships was voted Tournament of the Year in its category for the third consecutive year by players in January. This year’s field also features World No. 5 Stan Wawrinka and Milos Raonic, No. 9 in the Emirates ATP Rankings. Marin Cilic, the event’s 2012 champion, Roberto Bautista Agut, John Isner and Gilles Simon round out the remaining seeds in London.

Two former champions – Grigor Dimitrov (2014) and Sam Querrey (2010) – also will play this week.

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Watch Beckham's son play tennis with Murray

  • Posted: Jun 13, 2016

David Beckham says watching his son Romeo play tennis with world number two Andy Murray at Queen’s Club was “surreal”.

Romeo, 13, has recently joined the London club, which is hosting the Aegon Championships, and was planning to watch some players warm up.

Former England captain Beckham said: “It’s obviously a huge treat and one that he wasn’t expecting or I wasn’t expecting as well.

“We were just coming down here to see some of the guys warm up and practise, so this is a big plus for him.”

This clip is originally from 5 live Sport on the 12 June 2016.

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