Tennis News

The grass season is in full swing and one of the showpiece grass events on the Men’s tour begins this week in London. The AEGON Championships was previously a 250 event but has been upgraded to 500, meaning that the draw has now been reduced to a 32 player draw rather than the usual 56. Sixth seed Grigor Dimitrov looks to defend his title, with an in-form Andy Murray his biggest threat. The Scot is a three time champ at the event, winning in 2009, 2011 and 2013

Murray can meet Dimitrov in the quarter finals if seedings hold. An incredibly flat performance last year at Wimbledon saw him sent packing by the Bulgarian in straight sets, coming as a major shock despite Dimitrov’s perceived potential. Before that, Murray must first defeat former Wimbledon quarter finalist Yen Hsun-Lu. The qualifier can often be tricky on grass but lost in straight sets to Murray last time they faced on grass, at Wimbledon in 2013. A Spaniard awaits in round two, be it Fernando Verdasco or Roberto Bautista Agut. Verdasco notably held a two set lead over Murray in the quarter finals the year he won the tournament, showing he can be a tough out on the surface while Bautista Agut has a grass title to his name in ‘S-hertogenbosch 2014.

Defending champion Dimitrov will probably need to navigate two tricky big servers to make the quarters. Sam Querrey’s serve will be a massive weapon on the surface although Dimitrov has won their only meeting. Gilles Muller will be full of confidence coming off a semi final in the Netherlands while already boasting a win over Dimitrov this year in Rotterdam. Mikhail Youzhny will hope to spoil proceedings but the 2012 Wimbledon quarter finalist’s form in 2015 has been disastrous.

Marin Cilic famously won this event in 2012 after David Nalbandian’s disqualification for hitting a line judge. He tried to win it the conventional way in 2013, falling to Andy Murray in the final. The Croatian will have been disappointed to have not made his first grass final at the weekend, losing from a break up in the final set in his semi final match. He will open against Adrian Mannarino while the other seed while another Frenchman is a possible second round opponent in qualifier Paul Henri Mathieu. More likely though, Cilic will have the chance to avenge his loss against Troicki in the second round.

Last year’s losing finalist Feliciano Lopez has always proven a tricky player on grass with his lefty serve and following volley and has three Wimbledon quarter final appearances to his name. He opens against Joao Sousa while a tiebreak festival could be on the cards in round two if John Isner can win. Lopez played 9 tiebreaks in total at last years tournament. Isner faces the highly touted American prospect, Jared Donaldson, who qualified after getting a wildcard.

Gilles Simon was scheduled to open his tournament against -s’Hertogenbosch finalist David Goffin although the Belgian had neck pain his defeat to Nicolas Mahut so may rest up rather than make the journey to London for this event. Thanasi Kokkinakis stands between a possible all-French second round with Jeremy Chardy. The Australian now has received six main draw wildcards this year, although being from a slam country will account for at least two of them. It will be Kokkinakis’ first main draw match on grass so will be interesting to see how he goes.

After skipping the French Open, Milos Raonic should be raring to go and is in a section of the draw that he will fancy his chances in. Raonic begins against home wildcard James Ward while Richard Gasquet should await in round two if his head to head over Simone Bolelli is extended to 6-0. Gasquet is 1-2 against Raonic although he did win a marathon five setter at the US Open in 2013.

What a difference a week has made for Rafael Nadal, with the doom and gloom surrounding him after his loss to Novak Djokovic at the French Open. Fast forward 10 days and the Spaniard is celebrating a title at the new event in Stuttgart after beating Viktor Troicki in the final. His stats were mightily impressive in the final, winning 42/49 on first serve and saving his only break point faced. Nadal will begin against Alexandr Dolgopolov while a second round against Pablo Andujar or Guillermo Garcia-Lopez is awfully kind for such a stacked draw.

Stan Wawrinka will play his first match since the French Open and will be ripe for an upset against Nick Kyrgios if the Australian can bring his grass form of last year to the table. Kyrgios made the quarter finals, memorably beating Rafael Nadal on the way there. Wawrinka’s grass form has never been all that great although he was a quarter finalist at last year’s Wimbledon. It could be a meeting between Australia’s old and new hopes in round two if wildcard Lleyton Hewitt can surprise Kevin Anderson. Hewitt is winding down his career and was given a wildcard for what should be his last Queens event. Hewitt is a four time winner at Queens as well as a one time champion at Wimbledon, taking the title in 2002.

Much like Queens, the Gerry Weber Open in Halle has had an upgrade to an ATP World Tour 500 tournament. The German event has been dominated by Roger Federer who has seven titles from nine finals while Tommy Haas is a two time winner with victories in 2009 and 2012.

Federer begins his quest for number eight against Philipp Kohlschreiber, one of the tougher non seeds in the draw. Kohlschreiber is a one-time Wimbledon quarter finalist at Wimbledon while also winning this event in 2011, taking advantage after Federer withdrew via injury. He was also the losing finalist in 2008, one loss of his eight total to Federer in his career. Federer’s suffered his first week one loss at Wimbledon in 2013 in thirteen years when he played potential round two opponent Sergiy Stakhovsky. The Ukranian will play Ernests Gulbis in round one, assuming he has recovered from the injury that saw him retire down 5-3 in the final set against Samuel Groth last week.

Seventh seed Bernard Tomic looks to get back to winning ways in Halle when he faces Steve Johnson. The Australian took Rafael Nadal to three sets in a Stuttgart loss last week and is fairly handy on grass, having one Wimbledon quarter final to his name. Johnson is 4-5 on grass in his career with one of those wins coming on a retirement. The winner of this clash will play a German, be it wildcard Jan Lennard Struff or Florian Mayer, who uses his protected ranking to secure entry.

Also amongst those who made multiple finals is Tomas Berdych who takes his place as third seed. The 2007 champion had been remarkably consistent this year, never losing to a player outside the top 10 in 2015 prior to his French Open loss to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. There doesn’t seem much in the way of competition to see that record extended to two losses, especially with Victor Estrella Burgos first up. Borna Coric’s first foray on to grass this year was dire, with the youngster winning just two games to Viktor Troicki.

Ivo Karlovic can cause trouble for Berdych as eighth seed but beyond that, it is slim pickings in the second quarter of the draw. Karlovic plays Santiago Giraldo while young wildcard Alexander Zverev will face Jarkko Nieminen. Karlovic has made 4 grass finals in his career, with both titles coming at Nottingham.

After a lengthy injury lay off, Tommy Haas will play his second tournament in just over a year. He managed to win his opening match in Stuttgart last week over Mikhail Kukushkin. The two-time champion would be a live outsider with a bit more match sharpness but it seems too early for him to launch a run. He opens against Andreas Seppi with Tommy Robredo the first possible seed. Robredo plays his first non-Wimbledon grass court tournament since 2010, where he was a round two loser in ‘s-Hertogenbosch.

Fourth seed Gael Monfils has a 25-17 record but has never made a final on the surface. He matched his best of a SF for the third time in Stuttgart, losing to eventual winner Rafael Nadal. Czechs Lukas Rosol and likely Jiri Vesely stand between him and the quarter finals, with Vesely having beaten Monfils in the second round of Wimbledon last year. Vesely must first beat Mikhail Kukushkin to advance.

Alejandro Falla looks set for a major points loss, with the 2014 finalist unlikely to repeat his run of last year. The Colombian first had to qualify although he is fortunate enough to draw another qualifier in Lukas Lacko. Sixth seed Pablo Cuevas is there for the taking given he has played just three main tour matches on grass, going 1-2. 2013 Wimbledon semi finalist Jerzy Janowicz has a chance to make a run here with the way the draw has fell for him with both of these matches very winnable for the Pole.

Kei Nishikori may prove a step too far as the Japanese star looks set to bounce back from what was a disappointing French Open for him, with many touting this week’s second seed as a dark horse to win the trophy. He faces Dominic Thiem in round one, who lost to Mischa Zverev in Stuttgart. Meanwhile, another Austrian could await in round two but it seems unlikely that Andreas Haider Maurer can defeat Dustin Brown if the German brings his form of last year that saw him defeat Rafael Nadal.

Rafa Nadal bounced back from his Roland Garros quarter-final loss to Novak Djokovic with a solid performance in Germany, where he managed to capture the 2015 Stuttgart grass court tournament title, beating Serbia’s Viktor Troicki in the final. The Spaniard hit 11 aces on the way to his straight sets 7-6(3) 6-3 victory. This is his third Stuttgart title in total (the previous two being on clay).

Rafa will be competing at the Queen’s Club Championships in London this week, where he will face Alexandr Dolgopolov in the opening round.

Following a tough week with several rollercoaster contests on grass, Rafael Nadal is through to the final of the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart, where he will come compete for the third time, but the first time on grass. The Spaniard will come up against Serbia’s Viktor Troicki, whom he has faced on four previous occasions on the professional tour. He holds a 4-0 lead yet has not faced the Serb in five years.

For the first time since 2011, Nadal is through to the final of a grass court tournament, even though he was at risk of exiting the tournament from his opening match. In his semi-final contest, he defeated Gael Monfils in straight sets 6-3, 6-4 in one hour and 19 minutes to secure his place in the Mercedes Cup final.

“It’s a great feeling to be back in a final, especially on grass,” said Nadal. “It’s been since 2011, I didn’t play a final on grass. So it’s very good to be back and I think I’m playing well. It was a tough match but I played well against a very difficult opponent.

“He’s a charismatic player and does different things on court… I just tried to be ready and wait for my moment. I was solid with myself.”

While some expected Marin Cilic to make it through to the final, it was Troicki who defeated the US Open champion in three sets to set up his final against Nadal.

This marks the fifth time that Nadal and Troicki will cross paths on the professional tour, with the Spaniard leading the head-to-head series 4-0. However, this marks their first meeting in five years, which could mean the contest may be far different. In this particular case, it would not be surprising to see Nadal end up in another three-set contest.
 

For just the second time in his professional career, Rafael Nadal lost a match at the French Open. It was a quarter-final loss to Novak Djokovic, who would go on to finish runner-up at the tournament to Stan Wawrinka. The nine-time Roland Garros champion will now look to regain his lost form and gradually rise in the rankings again when he competes at the Mercedes Cup for the first time. He will begin with a second round match against Marcos Baghdatis, whom he holds a 7-1 head-to-head record against.

Now that the king had been downed at the French Open, it is clear that Nadal is far from the form that won him 14 Grand Slam titles over the years. Given that grass courts were never Nadal’s favourite surface, it will be interesting to see if the Spaniard has enough time to practice and get comfortable on court.

“It’s time to think about practice,” said Nadal. “First time on grass is always hard. I’m going to try my best, practise as much as I can today and tomorrow and Wednesday for my first round match.”

“I played on the Centre Court yesterday and for a first-year event, the court is in great shape, so congrats to everyone for that,” said Nadal. “Now I get to play two weeks before Wimbledon for the first time, so I hope that helps.”

Nadal will come up against Baghdatis, who defeated Lukas Rosol in the opening round of the tournament in straight sets. The Cypriot struck 10 aces, won 89% of his first service points and converted four break points to close out the match 6-3, 6-4 in one hour and six minutes.

This marks the ninth time that Nadal and Baghdatis will cross paths on the professional tour, with Nadal leading the head-to-head series 7-1. This is just their second meeting on grass after their first one took place back in 2006 at the Wimbledon semi-final. Given that the former Australian Open runner-up has already had a warm-up match on grass, it will be interesting to see if he offers up a challenge for the Spaniard en route to the following round.
 

Last year, Eugenie Bouchard made history as the only Canadian player (male or female) to reach the final of the Wimbledon Championships, where she finished runner-up to Petra Kvitova. Now, nearly a year later, Bouchard is a shadow of her former self, as she crashed out of the pre-Wimbledon warm-up event in Holland.

Seeded No. 1 at the s-Hertogenbosch event, Bouchard played three sets against Yaroslava Shvedova and was close to securing the victory before she wilted away to allow a comeback from the No. 76 Kazakhstan native. Bouchard dropped the opening set, then rebounded emphatically in the second frame and even led 4-1 in the deciding set before she lost the next five consecutive games and, evidently, the match.

Shvedova withstood five aces, won 66% of her first service points and saved six break points to close out the match 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 in one hour and 54 minutes.

Bouchard, clearly dejected following the loss, admit that she loves the grass court surface and expected to play with more confidence given her exceptional performances last season.

“I love grass. I think it’s my favorite surface,” she said. “I have great memories from last year, and I think it really suits my game – the ball bounces low, and the grass is just so pretty and nice.

“When I go to Wimbledon I’ll have memories from last year popping into my head, which will hopefully give me confidence that I’ll play really well, but right now I’m still just taking it one match at a time.”

Sunday, June 7 was supposed to be the day that many would remember as the one where Novak Djokovic became the eighth payer in tennis history to accomplish the Career Grand Slam. However, while the stars were aligned for his eventual success, few accounted for the Swiss star who would alter the Serb’s plans in shocking fashion.

Wawrinka dominated the contest following the opening set, as he fired shots through Djokovic and outplayed the Serbian star en route to a emphatic four-set win at Roland Garros. He rallied from a set down to defeat the top seed 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4.

“He played some really good tactical tennis and also very aggressive shots in some breakpoints, like when it was 4-4, that passing shot winner down the line…all I can say is, ‘well done’; he deserves it,”

“You go through emotions when you are playing for the title. 3-0 up, I wasted some chances and he started getting more confident; he started going for his shots.”

Djokovic has a particularly sour memory of the fourth set, where he held a significant lead before allowing Wawrinka back into the contest.

“You know, you go through emotions, you get frustrated, you come back. All in all, may be that was the turning point. After that, I did try to comeback. I did try to fight up to the last point, to the last ball, but it wasn’t that day.”

However, while Djokovic was clearly disappointed with his loss on Sunday, he made it clear that his ambition to win the French Open did not overshadow the ambitions of all the other players in the draw. He did admit to being more nervous than any other final beforehand, though.

“As I said, you go through emotions. Of course I was nervous than any other match. It’s final of Roland Garros. We both were aware of the importance of this match, and that’s why you tend to have these particular situations.”

In one of the more surprising results this season, Swiss No. 2 Stan Wawrinka played the match of his life on Sunday afternoon in Paris to defeat world No. 1 Novak Djokovic in four sets to lift his second Grand Slam title.

In a match that was believed to be Djokovic’s to lose, Wawrinka dominated the contest following the opening set, as he fired shots through Djokovic and outplayed the Serbian star en route to a emphatic four-set win at Roland Garros. He rallied from a set down to defeat the top seed 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4.

“I’m still surprised that in two months I can win the French Open because I wasn’t in good shape after Monaco [in April]. It was a tough, tough moment for me. To say that now I won the French Open, it’s something completely crazy.”

During the post-match trophy ceremony, Djokovic enjoyed a prolonged standing ovation from the crowd, which moved him to tears. He has now lost three French Open finals, 2012, 2014 and 2015. He will have to wait one more year to become the eighth person to complete the career Grand Slam.

With regards to his unique shorts, Wawrinka found it endlessly amusing that the shorts that most hated during the fortnight were the ones that won him the French Open.

“I don’t think they will allow me to wear the shorts at Wimbledon,” Wawrinka joked. “Everybody has talked about the shorts since I put them on. I quite like them but apparently I’m the only one. I know a lot of people have talked about them and it’s quite funny that they won the French Open.”