Tennis News

Sinner: 'I have no doubts about my body'

Entering Roland Garros, there were questions regarding Jannik Sinner’s hip injury. The Italian made clear Saturday ahead of Wimbledon that there are no such doubts entering the grass-court major.

“After Paris I took some days off and then back to work. I mean, there are no secrets. I feel physically much better than in the beginning of Roland Garros because there I arrived with some doubts,” Sinner said. “Here I have no doubts about my body. We have been working a lot in the last days.

“I’m not concerned about my body shape. I’m just happy to be here and hopefully ready to compete.”

The 22-year-old, the first player from his country to reach No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings, is the top seed at a Grand Slam tournament for the first time. He carries plenty of confidence into London after claiming his maiden grass-court title at the ATP 500 event in Halle.

“Obviously last week for me was an important week. Last year I played semis here, so in my mind I know that I can play also some good tennis on this surface. Obviously every year is a bit different. In Halle the conditions are different than here,” Sinner said. “I’m just trying to get used to it, building my confidence here on this court. That’s it. Thinking about seeding or all the rest, it doesn’t make any sense. Everyone wants to win and show their best here.”

There was plenty of chatter when Sinner <a rel=”noopener noreferrer” href=”https://x.com/Wimbledon/status/1806635761564828009″ target=”_blank”>took to Centre Court for practice with seven-time Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic, who underwent knee surgery after Roland Garros.

“We hit only 45 minutes there playing points. It’s also tough to understand what level he is,” Sinner said. “But for sure he is one of the greatest to play on this court. So for me [it] was a huge privilege and honour to practise with him.”

Djokovic was part of a documentary on the end of Roger Federer’s career, FEDERER: Twelve Final Days, which was just released. Sinner took note of how Federer, Djokovic and Rafael Nadal pushed each other by competing against one another. Sinner’s Lexus ATP Head2Head rivalry with Carlos Alcaraz has become one of the most interesting matchups in the sport.

“At some point Rafa arrived, then Roger was struggling. After he tried to find a way how to beat him, then Novak arrived,” Sinner said. “I think that’s something that evolves the player and also increases the level of each of them. They have reached their 100 per cent of everything. This would be also my dream, to arrive at the point at the end of the career where I reached 100 per cent of my physical ability in the tennis and also [the] mental [side].

“I think that was the most impressive thing that they have done.”

Now Sinner is fully focused on Wimbledon, where he will try to claim his second major title after his triumph at the Australian Open earlier in the season. Last year, the Italian reached the semi-finals at SW19.

“Very happy to be back here. It’s a very, very special tournament coming up,” Sinner said. “Obviously I’m happy how I played last week. I’m trying to find a good form here on these courts, hopefully being ready for this tournament.”

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'What a treat!' – best shots as Kasatkina wins Eastbourne title

Watch the best shots as Daria Kasatkina beats Leylah Fernandez 6-3 6-4 to win the Eastbourne International final.

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Tabilo makes Chilean history with first grass title in Mallorca

Alejandro Tabilo became the first Chilean man to win a grass-court title in the Open Era with his Saturday victory at the Mallorca Championships presented by Waterdrop. The 27-year-old defeated Sebastian Ofner 6-3, 6-4 to win the second title of both the 2024 season and his career.

“It’s been an unbelievable year,” the fourth seed said post-match. “All the support of all the Chileans at home, my team, my girlfriend. It’s been a crazy year. It’s been very nice, this whole level I’ve been playing. Hopefully I can keep it up and just keep showing what I can do.”

🏆 𝐂𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐄𝐎𝐍 🏆

Alejandro Tabilo gets past Ofner 6-3 6-4 and becomes the first Chilean man in the Open Era to win a tour-level title on grass!@MallorcaChamps | #MallorcaChampionships pic.twitter.com/0x63vO3zNK

— ATP Tour (@atptour) June 29, 2024

Tabilo will rise five places to a career-high PIF ATP Ranking of No. 19 behind the result, moving one place ahead of countryman Nicolas Jarry on Monday. It will mark the first time since 2005 that two Chileans are inside the Top 20 (Fernando Gonzalez, Nicolas Massu).

“It’s an unreal feeling,” said Tabilo, who was just inside the Top 150 this time last year. “I can’t believe it. Hopefully I can keep on going up.”

In the ATP 250 final, Tabilo hit five aces and saved all three break points against him — including one as he served out the match — according to Infosys ATP Stats. The Chilean’s ability to consistently put returns in play kept the pressure on Ofner in their first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting, with a single break of serve deciding each set.

Tabilo won his final six sets of the tournament and lost just two sets on the week, to Jaume Munar in the first round and Alex Michelsen in the quarter-finals. Alongside Eastbourne champion Taylor Fritz, Tabilo is one of two men to reach finals on hard, clay and grass courts this season (Auckland, Santiago, Mallorca).

Ofner fell short in his bid for his first ATP Tour title. He was denied the chance to join Dominic Thiem as the only Austrian man to win an ATP Tour title on grass in Open Era.

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Kasatkina beats Fernandez to seal Eastbourne title

Daria Kasatkina sees off a spirited effort from Leylah Fernandez to win the Eastbourne International in straight sets.

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My Wimbledon: Ben Shelton

Ben Shelton is set to make his second appearance at Wimbledon, having experienced his first taste of the grass-court major last summer.

The 21-year-old American, who faces Italian qualifier Mattia Bellucci in the first round, caught up with ATPTour.com before this year’s event to discuss his early memories of watching The Championships, Wimbledon traditions, the stories of his dad Bryan Shelton playing at the major and much more…

What is your first memory of watching Wimbledon?
The memory that’s clearest to me is probably the 2019 final between Novak and Roger. It was probably the first time I had the attention span to watch a five-set match. I’d say when I was younger, I probably wasn’t as interested in watching tennis or watching some tennis matches. But that final really grabbed me.

What are your first memories of playing Wimbledon?
I got an opportunity to practise for a week at Wimbledon before playing Queen’s last year. It was a great experience for me, seeing the site kind of empty. Then when I got back from playing the tournament in Mallorca, the site was full, the tournament was getting started, it was a completely different feel.

What were your early thoughts about the aura of the venue?
I always think it’s cool when you’re able to see two sides of the tournament. The more closed-off side, which feels exclusive, like no one else is there. I quite like that as well, the week before. You can walk around and it is chill and you really get to see the site.

Then when match day is there, you see the sea of people, ready and excited to watch the tennis. I think that is the coolest part for me and the buzz you get at Wimbledon is the best.

What is your favourite Wimbledon tradition and why?
I love the all-white clothing. I think it’s great when tournaments are unique and have their own thing. I think Wimbledon does a great job of that. Obviously, they’re the one Grand Slam that’s still on grass.

Three of the Grand Slams used to be on grass. Now two of them have gone away from it. We still have one Grass-Court major. The all-white makes Wimbledon unique and traditional and really in touch with our tennis ancestors. I really enjoy it.

Your dad, Bryan, reached the fourth round at Wimbledon in 1994. Have you talked to him about that experience and seen any footage of him playing at Wimbledon?
I think it was really cool because there’s not a lot of tape that I’ve seen of my dad playing, but you can find a few of his matches for that year at Wimbledon. They are the matches that I’ve watched. Obviously he was playing at a really, really high level that week, so it was cool to kind of see some of his top-end tennis and speak to him about it after.

What is your favourite thing about playing on grass?
I think there are a lot of things to learn on grass. I didn’t start playing on grass until so late in my tennis development and kind of developing a game style having never played on grass before. There’s a bunch of things to learn and develop that have to do with movement, play style and things that I think that I’m learning and growing every single day. The journey just continues for me after a good start.

I think that it’s a surface where I could do really well and have some great success. But I haven’t done anything yet. I haven’t proved myself on the surface yet.

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Five women to watch at Wimbledon

BBC Sport takes a look at who might come away from Wimbledon with the women’s singles title.

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Predictor Picks: Why Fritz & De Minaur may be better picks than Sinner & Djokovic

The grass-court season hits its high point at Wimbledon, where the world’s best players can earn as many as 2,000 PIF ATP Rankings points.

One year ago, Carlos Alcaraz won the title in a thrilling final against Novak Djokovic, and current World No. 1 Jannik Sinner reached the semi-finals. Alcaraz (2,000), Djokovic (1,200) and Sinner (720) are defending a big chunk of points, which does not make them ideal selections for the PIF ATP Rankings Predictor.

Who could be good choices for your team? ATPTour.com takes a look at three players to consider.

Make Your Picks Now!

Casper Ruud — dropping 45 points
The Norwegian star will be the first to tell you grass is not his favourite surface. The 25-year-old has only played 10 tour-level matches on the surface in his career.

But Ruud enters The Championships with the most wins of anyone on the ATP Tour this year (39) according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index. With only 45 points to defend, he has plenty of net points to gain. If he could oust qualifier Alex Bolt, a grass-court standout, in the first round, his path could open.

The first seeded opponent in eighth seed Ruud’s path is 31st seed Mariano Navone, who has never previously competed in a Wimbledon main draw.

Alex de Minaur — dropping 45 points
Few competitors in professional tennis are as tough to beat match in and match out as De Minaur. The Australian not only brings an indefatigable fighting spirit to the court, but his top-tier speed also forces opponents to make extra balls. That could prove especially valuable at Wimbledon, where De Minaur is the ninth seed.

In 2022, he made the fourth round at the event and the Aussie has also claimed two of his nine ATP Tour titles on grass. Opening against lucky loser James Duckworth, the 25-year-old will try to outperform his second-round showing from 2023.

Taylor Fritz — dropping 45 points
Fritz owns one of the biggest serves in the sport and loves playing aggressively, which makes him a dangerous opponent on grass. That has shown in his results on the surface, on which he has claimed two titles (both in Eastbourne). Fritz can add another Saturday when he plays for the trophy again at the Rothesay International.

Two years ago, Fritz made the quarter-finals at Wimbledon and Rafael Nadal needed a final-set tie-break against him to advance. The American will be hungry to make it back to that stage or even deeper at SW19.

Bonus Ball — Taylor Fritz
Of the three players featured in this edition of PIF ATP Rankings Predictor Picks, Fritz might be the most dangerous at The Championships. When at his best, the American can control play against nearly anyone on the ATP Tour.

Fritz showed good form to begin the grass-court season at Queen’s Club, where he made the quarter-finals. With his run to the championship match at Eastbourne, win or lose, the 26-year-old will arrive in London with plenty of confidence. The 13th seed will begin his tournament against Aussie Christopher O’Connell.

Double the points you earn for picking Fritz by placing your ‘Bonus Ball’ on the in-form American.

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Djokovic 'pain free' as he plays exhibition match

Novak Djokovic says he is “pain free” after coming through an exhibition against Daniil Medvedev prior to the start of Wimbledon next week.

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Purcell reaches first ATP Tour final in Eastbourne

Australian Max Purcell reached his first ATP Tour final on Friday at the Rothesay International, where he ended the run of British wild card Billy Harris.

The qualifier battled hard to earn a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 win at the ATP 250 grass-court event in Eastbourne.

“I have a new coach this week and I feel everything is coming together this week,” Purcell said. “It feels good. Qualifying last week in Halle gave me confidence, a couple of straight sets matches there. I felt that I was due to get a couple of wins.”

Purcell saved both break points he faced in the third set and won 80 per cent (16/20) of his first-serve points according to Infosys ATP Stats to triumph after two hours and 15 minutes in his first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with Harris.

The 26-year-old, who was competing in just his second tour-level semi-final, is the fourth qualifier in tournament history to advance to the title match. Purcell, who arrived in Eastbourne on a four-match losing streak, will play two-time champion Taylor Fritz or countryman Aleksandar Vukic in the final.

Harris was competing in his first ATP Tour semi-final, having reached the last eight at Queen’s last week. The 29-year-old is up 23 spots to No. 116 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, while Purcell climbs 26 places to No. 68.

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Skupski/Venus save 2 MPs to win Eastbourne crown

Neal Skupski and Michael Venus captured their second consecutive title Friday when they saved two championship points to triumph at the Rothesay International.

The fourth seeds, who last week were crowned champions at Queen’s, extended their winning streak to eight by overcoming third seeds Matthew Ebden and John Peers 4-6, 7-6(2), 11-9. Ebden and Peers served for the title at 5-4 in the second set and were one point from victory when they lost a deciding point.

“It was very up and down match, very tricky decisions,” Skupski said. “Them boys played great for nearly all the match. Mike kind of took over at 4-5 down [in the second set], hit some amazing shots. He gave me belief, we stuck around and that is doubles really, it is fine margins. It is great to come away with a win like that, it gives us confidence.”

Skupski and Venus saved another match point at 8/9 in the Match Tie-break, tallying three consecutive points to win the Eastbourne crown after one hour, 45 minutes. The British-Kiwi duo fended off 11 of 13 break points faced, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

Cash/Galloway reach second grass final of season in MallorcaJulian Cash and Robert Galloway advanced to their second final of the grass swing at the Mallorca Championships presented by Waterdrop. The British-American duo outlasted Germans Constantin Frantzen and Hendrik Jebens 6-7(3), 6-3, 10-8.

Finalists in Stuttgart, Cash and Galloway are aiming to go one step further to claim their second team title, having won Delray Beach in February. They also triumphed at the grass-court ATP Challenger Tour 125 event in Surbiton. Cash and Galloway will face Diego Hidalgo and Alejandro Tabilo in Saturday’s final. The Chilean Tabilo is also in the Mallorca singles final.

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