Tennis News

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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Sinner, Alcaraz headline Wimbledon's Day 1 action

Top seed Jannik Sinner and defending champion Carlos Alcaraz headline Monday’s schedule at Wimbledon, where Daniil Medvedev will also be in action on Day 1 of main draw play. Seven-time winner Novak Djokovic will begin his title quest Tuesday.

Alcaraz holds the honours of Wimbledon’s tradition — the previous year’s champion kickstarts the tournament. The top half of the draw will play Monday, when third seed Alcaraz faces Estonian qualifier Mark Lajal.

Sinner, who is the top seed at a major for the first time, will start against Yannick Hanfmann. The Italian is aiming for his second major title after triumphing at the Australian Open in January.

Among other matches Monday, Medvedev, World No. 5 in the PIF ATP Rankings, meets American Aleksandar Kovacevic, eighth seed Casper Ruud goes against Alex Bolt and 10th seed Grigor Dimitrov faces Dusan Lajovic.

Djokovic begins his 19th appearance at the All England Club Tuesday. The Serbian starts against Czech qualifier Vit Kopriva. Djokovic is aiming to tie Roger Federer for the most Wimbledon titles (8) and become the oldest champion (37).

Alexander Zverev, Andrey Rublev, Hubert Hurkacz, Alex de Minaur and Stefanos Tsitsipas will also be in action Tuesday, as will two-time champion Andy Murray in what is likely his final showing at his home Slam.

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Tabilo topples Monfils, faces Ofner in Mallorca final

Alejandro Tabilo’s career-best season keeps getting better and better.

The Chilean advanced to his third final of the year Friday when he rallied past Frenchman Gael Monfils 2-6, 6-2, 7-6(3) at the Mallorca Championships presented by Waterdrop.

The 27-year-old joins Jaime Fillol Sr. as the only Chilean men in the Open Era to reach tour-level finals on clay, grass and hard courts. A champion in Auckland and runner-up in Santiago, Tabilo is the first Chilean to reach three ATP Tour finals in a single season since Cristian Garin in 2019.

“I couldn’t have even imagined the first week of the year, winning my first ATP Tabilo topples Monfils, faces Ofner in Mallorca final,” Tabilo said. “We are here now and hopefully we can keep going with this level.”

The fourth seed recovered from a slow start, leaning on his serve and forehand to dig him out of trouble. After falling a double break down in the opening set, Tabilo quickly regrouped and did not drop a point behind his first serve in the second set. The lefty frequently moved forward in critical moments, winning 20/26 net points, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

“I think I started a little nervous, not really intense. I couldn’t find the court,” Tabilo said. “As the first set went on, I started getting a little looser, started hitting the ball [better]. Second set, I knew it was a new match and I had to start all over.”

Up four spots to No. 20 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, Tabilo is set for a new career-high Monday. In Saturday’s final he will face Austrian Sebastian Ofner, who defeated British qualifier Paul Jubb 6-4, 7-5. Tabilo is also in the Mallorca doubles final with partner Diego Hidalgo.

Ofner was strong on serve throughout and closed out the match with his 14th and 15th aces. He saved a break point in his final two service games and dropped just four points on his first serve throughout the match.

“I have always played well on grass, so for my first final to come on grass is something special,” Ofner said. “It’s also the surface on which I qualified for my first Grand Slam at Wimbledon.

“[In the last games] I just wanted to go with power on my first serve because that’s the best chance to have no rally. But I played great the last games and happy that I got the win.”

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Fernandez ends Keys' title defence to reach Eastbourne final

Leylah Fernandez beats defending champion Madison Keys to reach the Eastbourne final, where she will face Daria Kasatkina.

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Evans plans to play Wimbledon after injury scare

Britain’s Dan Evans expects to be ready to play Wimbledon after injuring his knee in an on-court slip at Queen’s earlier in June.

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