Tennis News

Yet to drop more than six games in a match this week in Birmingham, Simona Halep is through to the quarter-final stage of the Aegon Classic tournament, where she will come up against Kristina Mladenovic, whom she hasn’t faced since their sole meeting on the tour last season in Paris. The French player leads the head-to-head series 1-0.

Up against a veteran player on Thursday, Simona Halep defeated Klara Koukalova in straight sets to advance to the final eight in Birmingham. She hit 14 winners and won 79% of her first service points to close out the match 6-1, 6-3 in a total of 50 minutes.

“I expected a tough match because she plays very hard on grass with her type of game,” Halep said. “It’s difficult to play her on this surface but I didn’t really want to think about that – I just came out here and played my game, played my style, stayed aggressive and especially served very well in the match.

“It was a good match for me today. It was my second match on grass this year so I’m feeling better on it, and I feel no pressure – I’m just enjoying the tennis here, and enjoying playing on this nice court.”

Halep is scheduled to meet Kristina Mladenovic, who also needed straight sets against Barbora Strycova to advance to the quarter-final stage in Birmingham. She withstood six aces, won 81% of her first service point and saved six of seven break point opportunities to close out the match in one hour and 34 minutes.

This marks the second time that Halep and Mladenovic will meet on the WTA tour, with Mladenovic leading the head-to-head series 1-0. Halep will look to avenge that loss this time around given her solid performances so far this week and level the series before they move over to the Wimbledon Championships.
 

Following successful matches in their respective encounters on Wednesday, Roger Federer and Florian Mayer will once again cross paths to determine who will advance to the latter stages of the Gerry Weber Open. This marks the sixth time that the two competitors will meet on the professional tour, with Federer leading the head-to-head series with an unblemished 5-0 record.

Federer’s second opponent in Halle was a difficult one: Ernests Gulbis, whom he shared a 2-2 h2h record with and had also lost his mot recent encounter against at last year’s French Open. However, their grass court encounter on Wednesday was a straightforward affair, as Federer snatched the opening set in 27 minutes, He then was able to snatch another break in the second set to bring the proceeding to an end with a 6-3, 7-5 scoreline.

“It is a grass-court match and he’s got a big serve, so regardless of what his level is, he’s always going to be tough for himself and for the opponent,” said Federer. “I served well when I had to and I’m pleased about the overall performance today.”

“Kidding aside, yes, I hope to be competitive,” he continued. “I hope I’m going to be in good shape. I hope we play against each other. That probably means we are in the final both of us and we’re both equally pleased with the tournament. But we know how long that road is to get there. I think our games both work very well on grass.”

In a match that also needed just straight sets, Florian Mayer defeated Steve Johnson 6-3, 7-6(4) to advance to the quarter-final round in Halle. He struck seven aces, won 76% of his first service point and saved eight break points to close out the match in one hour and 24 minutes.

This marks the sixth time that the two competitors will meet on the professional tour, with Federer leading the head-to-head series with an unblemished 5-0 record. Mayer has actually faced Federer at this tournament on two previous occasions and is yet to threaten a victory.
 

Following impressive showings in their opening matches this week at the Aegon Championships, Grigor Dimitrov and Gilles Muller will once again cross paths to determine who will get one step closer to the latter stages of this pre-Wimbledon warm up event. This is the third time that the two competitors will cross paths on the ATP World Tour, with the series tied 1-1. Muller actually won their most recent encounter this season on the hard courts of Rotterdam, while Dimitrov won their first meeting at this very event three years ago.

Defending champion Grigor Dimitrov needed two days to get through his opening round match against Sam Querrey. He eventually rallied from a set and a break down in the match to secure the 4-6, 6-3 6-4 over the Aegon champion from five years ago.

“I was very calm, which really helped me,” he said of the turnaround. “After the first break, I knew that I was on the right track. Then obviously making the second one, finishing for the set, and today coming out was a completely different day. It was warmer, brighter, so everything was just totally different for me. It was a new day. For me, it was a new match.”

Dimitrov will come up against Gilles Muller, who had a similarly difficult path into the second round of the tournament. He struck 37 aces, won 85% of his first service points and saved all eight of the break points he faced to close out the match against Youzhny 6-7(5), 6-4, 7-6(5) after two hours and 26 minutes.

This marks the third time that the two competitors will meet on the professional tour and will also serve as the rubber match to determine who will take the lead in their head-to-head series. Muller won their most recent encounter this season on the hard courts of Rotterdam, while Dimitrov won their first meeting at this very event three years ago. It will be interesting to see if the defending champion can advance to the following round.
 

Following two consecutive meetings in the quarter-final stage of a Grand Slam event, British No. 1 Andy Murray and Spain’s Fernando Verdasco will meet once again, this time in the second round of the Aegon Championships. This marks the 11th time that these two competitors will meet on the professional tour, with Murray leading the head-to-head series 10-1.

In a solid opening match at Queen’s Club, Andy Murray defeated Yen-Hsun Lu in straight sets to advance to the following round at the pre-Wimbledon warm up tournament. Murray fired 12 aces, won 84% of his first service points and converted four break points to close out the match 6-4, 7-5 in one hour and 19 minutes.

“It was good,” said Murray about being back on grass. “I always enjoy coming back here. It was not an easy match. He’s a good player, obviously. He takes the ball on and the ball shoots through the court pretty flat. He likes a quicker court. It was a tricky match but it was okay.”

Coming off a two-day rest at Queen’s Club, Fernando Verdasco will be fit and ready to challenge his Scottish rival on grass. On the opening day of the tournament, he defeated fellow Spaniard Robrto Bautista Agut in three sets, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6(4) to advance to the second round of the competition. He struk 18 aces, won 77% of his first service points and saved four break points to close out the match in two hours.

This is set to be the 11th time that these two competitors will meet on the professional tour, with Murray leading the head-to-head series 10-1. Verdasco put Murray through a grueling match in June 2013, and was one set away from putting an end to Murray’s historic run at SW19. Can he recreate that tension on grass this time around, or will it be a straightforward affair for the Brit?
 

Michelle Larcher de Brito pulled off the biggest shock of the WTA Birmingham tournament to date with a stunning 6-4 3-6 7-6(6) victory over the defending champion Ana Ivanovic.

The Portuguese famously beat Maria Sharapova at Wimbledon 2 years ago, one of her four top 20 wins in her career. In making it five, she extended her winning record on the surface at main tour level to 10-6. She showed why she held such a record in the first set, rushing into a 3-0 lead over the second seed and eventually holding off Ivanovic to take the first 6-4.

Both players remained solid on serve, with just the one break point opportunity available in set two. Ivanovic, who hit 7 aces in the second set and 15 in total, would take it to gain a 5-3 lead, part of a run of 5 straight games from 3-3 in the second to 2-0 in the deciding set. It seemed like class would tell in the third but Ivanovic faltered, twice giving up break leads with the second when she was serving for the match.

While this was Ivanovic’s first match since the French Open, Larcher de Brito had played six matches on grass this year – something the Serbian admitted played some part in the loss. “It’s tough playing someone who already had a few matches on the grass” the Serbian said.

Larcher de Brito has made more headlines for her on court grunting than her actual tennis but proved that she can go toe to toe with some of the best, especially on her favoured surface. Her reward for the victory will be a matchup with either Daniela Hantuchova or Marina Erakovic, the former of which won the title in Birmingham in 2013. A win or two more would strengthen her case for a main draw wildcard at Wimbledon with the tournament having precedent for rewarding players who perform well at the lead up tournaments.

Meanwhile, it remains a disappointing return to the court for Ivanovic in what has been an up and down year. The former No.1 moves onto Wimbledon, a tournament which she has only managed to make it through to the quarter finals or better on one occasion (2007 SF).

Other winners on Day 3 included two former champions. 2007 winner Jelena Jankovic advanced with a straight sets win over Casey Dellacqua while 2009 champion Magdelena Rybarikova defeated Anna Karolina Schmiedlova. Klara Koukalova won the last 10 games in her match against Caroline Garcia and Christina Mchale was victorious over Misaki Doi.

Following an impressive week in Stuttgart that resulted in his first grass court title in five years, Rafael Nadal was unable to maintain that momentum in the United Kingdom, as he crashed out of Aegon Championships in his opening round match.

Up against Alexnadr Dolgopolov in their round 1 contest, Nadal was forced to contest three sets and even had a break snatched back from him in the decider. In the end, Dolgopolov won the match 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-4.

Nadal was forced to withstand 16 aces from the Ukrainian, 78% of his Dolgopolov’s first service points and seven break point opportunities, three of which made it through and were pivotal to his eventual demise.

“I was fighting in every point,” Nadal said. “I was with the right concentration, with the right motivation, not giving up when I had tough moments.

“I’m not happy I lost a match that I had a chance to win, but that’s it. That’s tennis on grass.”

After losing just his second match ever at the French Open last week, Rafael Nadal fought valiantly all week in Stuttgart to arrive in a final against Viktor Troicki. While he needed three sets at various points throughout the week, he managed to claim the title following a straight sets victory. It was his first title on grass since the 2010 Wimbledon Championships.

However, the Spaniard remains confident that his loss at Queen’s Club will not impact his Wimbledon run at the end of the month.

Another rare clash between 17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer and Latvian Ernests Gulbis is scheduled to take place, this time in the second round of the Gerry Weber Open in Halle. This is just the fifth time these two competitors will meet on the professional tour, and their first meeting since Gulbis ousted the Swiss star during the fourth round of last year’s French Open. The head-to-head series is currently tied 2-2.

In one of his toughest matches against the German Philipp Kohlschreiber, Roger Federer managed to save himself from a lose when he was just a few points away from being ousted prematurely from Halle. In the end, he prevailed in three tight sets to secure his place in the second round of the tournament. He won the match 7-6(8), 3-6, 7-6(5) in two hours and 11 minutes to earn his fourth win against Kohlschreiber at this tournament.

“I’m very relieved,” said Federer after the match. “Philipp served at 5-4 in the [third set] tie-break. It’s rough on grass, it takes two serves and maybe that’s it.” “I wasted two match points at 5-4, 15/40 and then saved a break point at five-all, so it was a roller-coaster ride in the end. My nerves are still going a bit crazy right now,”

The following morning, Ernests Gulbis stepped out on court to defeat Sergiy Stakhovsky in straight sets to work his way into the second round of the tournament. He fired nine aces, won 76% of his first service points and saved three break points en route to a 6-4, 7-6(3) win against the Ukrainian.

This marks the fifth time that these two competitors will cross paths on the professional tour with the series currently tied 2-2. Three of those meetings took place on clay, while Federer remains undisputed on hard courts. This marks their first encounter on grass and should be an interesting one given their current trajectories on the tour. With an eighth title on the line for Federer, it will be interesting to see how he performs on Wednesday.

Swiss No. 2 Stan Wawrinka managed to earn the victory and send himself into the second round of the Aegon Championships at Queen’s Club. His next on-court appearance will be a compelling match against South Africa’s Kevin Anderson, whom he has lost his two most recent meetings against. The head-to-head series is currently tied 3-3 with all the matches being played on hard court. This is set to be their first grass court meeting.

Coming off a remarkable run at the French Open, where he put his first round loss in 2014 to shame with a fantastic fortnight in Paris to lift his second Grand Slam title in as many years, many believed that Wawrinka would have some trouble in his early transition onto clay. However, that was certainly far from the case on Tuesday, as he began his Aegon Championships campaign with a straight sets win against Nick Kyrgios. He struck nine aces, won 93% of his first service points and saved all three of the break points he faced on serve to close out the match 6-3, 6-4 in 49 minutes.

Wawrinka will come up against Kevin Anderson, the South African No. 1, who during his first match on grass came within a few points of losing to Lleyton Hewitt before he managed to break back in the second set to force a decider. There, he dominated the encounter to oust Hewitt from the Aegon Championships for the final time in the Australian’s professional career. He struck 22 aces, won 78% of his first service points and saved six of eight break points to close out the match 6-7(5), 7-5, 6-2.

This marks the seventh time these two competitors will meet on the professional tour, with the head-to-head series tied at 3-3. Although Anderson won their two most recent meetings on the ATP World Tour, Wawrinka holds three other Masters 1000 wins against Anderson. Given Wawrinka’s recent performances, as well as his solid start on grass this season, he will likely be able to overturn his two-match losing streak to the South African.