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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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Nishikori Discusses Grass-Court Win Against Pouille In Halle 2016

  • Posted: Jun 13, 2016

Nishikori Discusses Grass-Court Win Against Pouille In Halle 2016

Jun132016

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Thiem Beats Kohlschreiber In Stuttgart 2016 Final Highlights

  • Posted: Jun 13, 2016

Thiem Beats Kohlschreiber In Stuttgart 2016 Final Highlights

Jun132016

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Heather Watson: Briton beats Camila Giorgi to progress at Aegon Classic

  • Posted: Jun 13, 2016

British number two Heather Watson dug deep to win 6-4 7-5 against Italy’s Camila Giorgi at a rain-affected Aegon Classic in Birmingham.

Their first-round match did not start until after 17:00 BST as downpours delayed the day’s play until 15:30.

Watson claimed the only break point of the first set, then saw off six break points for Giorgi in the second.

The world number 55, ranked 11 places higher than Giorgi, will play Barbora Strycova or Karolina Pliskova next.

  • Rain disrupts opening day at Queen’s

“I was very focused at the end and I’m so glad we got to play the full match without any rain delays,” said 24-year-old Watson.

“She’s a very tough opponent and hits the ball extremely hard. I had to accept she will hit a lot of winners but had to take advantage when she made mistakes.

“I feel fully fit and think I’m playing very well.”

American seventh seed Madison Keys won 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 against Hungary’s Timea Babos in Monday’s opening match.

However, British number three Naomi Broady and Australia’s Daria Gavrilova were forced off court about 19:00 by more rain.

British number one Johanna Konta and Tara Moore begin their Edgbaston campaigns on Tuesday.

Konta, 25, faces Japan’s Misaki Doi, while Moore, 23, plays Austria’s Tamira Paszek.

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Queen's Club: First day of Aegon Championships delayed by rain

  • Posted: Jun 13, 2016
Summer of tennis on the BBC
Tournaments: Queen’s, Eastbourne and Wimbledon Dates: 13 June to 10 July
Coverage: Live on BBC TV, radio and online. Click for more details

Rain has disrupted the start of the Aegon Championships at Queen’s Club.

Play was scheduled to begin at 12:30 BST on Monday, but was put back until about 14:40 because of intermittent showers over London.

Richard Gasquet and American opponent Steve Johnson managed eight minutes of action before the covers came on, with the French fourth seed leading 2-0.

British number four Dan Evans’ is scheduled to play France’s Paul-Henri Mathieu after the opening match.

Top seed Andy Murray also faces a Frenchman – world number 49 Nicolas Mahut – in his first-round match on Tuesday.

Mahut, 34, goes into the tournament having claimed the fourth ATP title of his career at the Ricoh Open in the Netherlands.

The defending champion completed a rain-interrupted 6-4 6-4 victory over Luxembourg’s Gilles Muller on Monday.

Meanwhile, rising Austrian star Dominic Thiem became the first player to win titles on three different surfaces this year when he won the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart.

The French Open semi-finalist won 6-7 (2-7) 6-4 6-4 against Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber after Sunday’s final had been stopped by rain before the first-set tie-break.

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Andy Murray: Ivan Lendl 'key to Briton beating Novak Djokovic'

  • Posted: Jun 13, 2016
Summer of tennis on the BBC
Tournaments: Queen’s, Eastbourne and Wimbledon Dates: 13 June to 10 July
Coverage: Live on BBC TV, radio and online. Click for more details

The return of coach Ivan Lendl could be key to Andy Murray overcoming world number one Novak Djokovic and winning more Grand Slams, says former British number one John Lloyd.

Murray, 29, will resume working with Lendl on Tuesday, having split with the Czech-born American in 2014.

Eight-time major champion Lendl guided Murray to his two Grand Slam titles and Olympic gold in 2012 and 2013.

“I think it’s a great signing and the right time to do it,” said Lloyd.

“This to me could be the missing ingredient. He has to beat Djokovic.

“I know there’s a lot of other good players. But, let’s face it, Andy’s figured everyone else out, he hasn’t figured Djokovic out. No-one has.”

Murray split with coach Amelie Mauresmo last month, having won his first clay-court titles and established himself as the world number two during their time together, but failed to add to his two major victories.

He has reached both Grand Slam finals in 2016, but lost to Djokovic at the Australian Open and French Open.

It was with Lendl on his team that the Scot won Olympic gold and the US Open in 2012, and Wimbledon in 2013 – beating Djokovic in all three tournaments.

“There was certainly a difference with Andy when he had Lendl,” added Lloyd.

“His concentration was better, his focus was better, his mind wasn’t wandering in the matches like it sometimes did when he had the other coaches.”

Murray will play France’s Nicolas Mahut in his opening match at the Aegon Championships on Tuesday, with the Briton trying to win a record fifth title.

‘Andy’s got a good radar’

Leon Smith, Britain’s Davis Cup captain, expects Lendl to bring the same qualities that helped Murray during their first partnership.

“I think it’s really good news for him,” said Smith. “Ivan just brought this authority, sense of direction and confidence for Andy.

“Andy’s got a good radar for everything. He’s had to make a lot of choices with his coaches in the past and he normally gets it right. He normally improves.

“He’s got a big hurdle to get over in Djokovic and I think this will really help.”

Ivan is a leader – Murray

Murray announced on Monday that Lendl would be returning to the team, with the eight-time Grand Slam champion expected to take his first practice session at Queen’s Club on Tuesday.

“Ivan is a leader,” Murray told BBC Sport. “He’s very, very experienced.

“I spoke a lot about the psychological side, just because we went through a lot of the same things as players before I finally broke through.

“Ivan lost 11 Grand Slam finals and I’ve lost eight – not that I want to catch him in that number!

“But we’ve both been in that position before and know how to bounce back.

“I had my best results with him, the most successful period of my career was working with him, and hopefully it goes well again.”

‘To tell your boss off is not easy’

Jamie Delgado joined the coaching set-up earlier this year and has already seen Murray win the Rome Masters and reach the French Open final.

He will continue to travel with Murray throughout the year, as Lendl joins up for the major tournaments and training blocks.

Former British number one Andrew Castle believes Lendl adds an element of authority to the Murray team.

“Jamie Delgado is not going anywhere,” Castle told BBC Sport. “He’s an important part of the set-up.

“To tell your boss off is not easy. If you are a coach, you have to have real authority and Ivan will be able to say to Andy, ‘This is the way it is’, and then back it up. He’s got that gravitas, no question.”

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