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Djokovic Celebrates Milestone Win, Moves Into Queen's Club SFs

  • Posted: Jun 22, 2018

Djokovic Celebrates Milestone Win, Moves Into Queen’s Club SFs

Serbian moves closer to fifth grass-court crown after 800th victory

Novak Djokovic became the 10th player in the Open Era (since 1968) to record 800 match wins on Friday, also earning a place in the semi-finals of the Fever-Tree Championships.

The Serbian wild card and 2008 runner-up worked his way back from an early setback and grew in confidence with his level of play to defeat Adrian Mannarino France 7-5, 6-1 in 79 minutes. It was his third straight grass-court win over Mannarino (also 2016-17 Wimbledon).

Djokovic could next meet another Frenchman, Jeremy Chardy, last week’s in-form Libema Open finalist (l. to Gasquet), or #NextGenATP American Frances Tiafoe on Saturday. Djokovic leads Chardy 10-0 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, while he has not played Tiafoe.

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A backhand slice that lost Djokovic the third game was the very shot he got back on level terms with at 4-4, when he converted his sixth break point chance. Djokovic completed a run of four consecutive games from 2-4 down when Mannarino hit a forehand long to finish the 48-minute first set.

Djokovic stepped up in the fourth game of the second set when he dragged Mannarino, last year’s Turkish Airlines Open Antalya finalist (l. to Sugita), around the court to force a forehand groundstroke error. Djokovic, currently at No. 22 in the ATP Rankings, won 18 of his 24 service points in the second and is now 17-8 on the year.

Djokovic, competing at The Queen’s Club for the first time since 2010, finished as runner-up to Rafael Nadal in the 2008 final. In recent weeks, the 31-year-old has advanced to the semi-finals at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia (l. to Nadal) and the Roland Garros quarter-finals (l. to Cecchinato).

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No Stopping Cilic At Home From Home

  • Posted: Jun 22, 2018

No Stopping Cilic At Home From Home

Croatian star awaits the winner of Kyrgios and Lopez

Marin Cilic is one match win away from reaching the Fever-Tree Championships for the fourth time after a confident quarter-final win on Friday.

The top-seeded Croatian, the champion in 2012 (d. Nalbandian) and runner-up in 2013 (l. to Murray) and 2017 (l. to Lopez), defeated fifth seed and 2010 titlist Sam Querrey of the United States 7-6(3), 6-2 in 79 minutes on a perfect day at The Queen’s Club, venue of the ATP World Tour 500 tournament since 1890.

Cilic, now 25-9 on the 2018 season, will next look to beat Australia’s Nick Kyrgios, last week’s MercedesCup semi-finalist, or defending champion Feliciano Lopez in Saturday’s semi-finals.

Having beaten Querrey in all five of their previous FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings (4-0 on grass), the pressure was on Cilic. The Croatian breathed a huge sigh of relief after he clinched the 51-minute first set, having failed to convert one set point chance at 5-4 on Querrey’s serve at 30/40. Querrey won the first two points of the tie-break, but solid hitting from Cilic on four successive points helped him. In a close opener, Cilic had won 19 of his 21 first-service points, hitting five aces, while Querrey had won 26 of his 31 first deliveries and six aces.

Cilic, playing with greater confidence in the second set, broke at the third time of asking in the opening game and won nine straight points to a 4-0 advantage. Cilic, who lost five of his service points in the second set, also beat Querrey 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 in the 2012 semi-finals. The 29-year-old Croatian star now has a 27-9 record on his 12th appearance at the historic grass-court tournament.

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Fever-Tree Championships 2018: Kyle Edmund beaten by Nick Kyrgios

  • Posted: Jun 21, 2018
2018 Fever-Tree Championships on the BBC
Venue: Queen’s Club, London Dates: 18-24 June
Coverage: Watch live on BBC Two, BBC iPlayer, BBC Red Button, Connected TVs, the BBC Sport website and app.

British number one Kyle Edmund was knocked out of the Fever-Tree Championships at Queen’s Club in the second round by Nick Kyrgios.

Kyrgios, who beat Britain’s Andy Murray in the first round, won 7-6 (7-3) 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 against seventh seed Edmund.

He will be joined in the quarter-finals by Novak Djokovic, who beat second seed Grigor Dimitrov 6-4 6-1.

Serbian 12-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic, a wildcard at Queen’s after injuries, won in just over an hour.

  • Follow live TV coverage of Queen’s
  • Andy Murray column on his ’emotional’ comeback
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‘No logic’ to Kyrgios game

Australian Kyrgios, 23, was at his unpredictable best against Edmund, playing ‘hot dog’ shots through his legs and delivering 135mph second serves.

Edmund, who had been the only Briton left in the tournament, levelled the match with a roar when Kyrgios’ shot went long in the second-set tie-break.

But in the next game Kyrgios resumed his unconventional tennis, lobbing Edmund with a shot between his legs, which had BBC commentator John Lloyd exclaiming: “That is insane. There is no logic to that shot at all.

“To go for the lob from that position… that’s one of the most inventive shots I’ve ever seen. How can you get away with that?”

Kyrgios broke in the fourth game of the third set and, despite looking increasingly uncomfortable with a hip problem, held on to serve out the match, sealing victory with a backhand down the line.

Kyrgios, who has been fined over his behaviour in the past, became frustrated towards the end of the match and was heard swearing towards his player’s box.

Asked by a reporter about his outburst, he said: “Do you swear? No, do you swear? Yes or no? Yes or no? Do you swear? Do you swear?”

Kyrgios faces 2017 champion Feliciano Lopez in the quarter-finals.

“I knew today was going to be tough,” Kyrgios, who served 32 aces to Edmund’s 11, told BBC Sport.

“Kyle’s had a great year. He’s got a lot of firepower. It was a great battle.

“I haven’t played too many matches in the past couple of months. Serving for a match of this value is not easy and I’m happy to get through it.”

The players met again later on Thursday, with Edmund and Neal Skupski beating Kyrgios and compatriot Lleyton Hewitt 6-1 6-4 in the doubles.

Djokovic breezes past off-colour Dimitrov

Djokovic registered his first win over a top-10 player since May 2017 with a speedy victory over Dimitrov.

Bulgarian Dimitrov struggled for rhythm and won only 54% of points on his first serve.

He served five double-faults, one of which allowed Djokovic to close out the opening set, and created only one break point opportunity.

While it was not always easy for Djokovic – he double-faulted three times in attempting to close out the match – he targeted Dimitrov’s backhand as he registered his 799th career win.

“Grigor made some crucial double faults today that handed me the first set,” Djokovic told BBC Sport.

“He loves playing on grass. He’s a great quality player.”

Djokovic will face Adrian Mannarino in Friday’s quarter-finals after the Frenchman beat compatriot Julien Benneteau 7-6 (7-4) 6-3.

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Federer saves two match points to advance in Halle

  • Posted: Jun 21, 2018

Roger Federer saved two match points to avoid an upset against France’s Benoit Paire and reach the quarter-finals of the Halle Open.

Federer, the 20-time Grand Slam champion and world number one, was made to work hard by the world number 48 before winning 6-3 3-6 7-6 (9-7).

Swiss Federer, 36, missed two match points to wrap up victory without the need for a tie-break in the final set.

He faces Australian Matthew Ebden next in the grass-court tournament.

Federer, seeking a 10th Halle title, must win the event if he is to retain the world number one ranking.

  • Edmund beaten by Kyrgios at Queen’s
  • Live scores, schedule and results
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He closed out the first set with successive aces but Paire rallied to lead 4-0 and take the second.

“I created quite a few opportunities, but maybe I was a bit tentative at times,” said Federer, whose victory was his 18th in succession on grass.

“I was disappointed with my serve in the second set, being broken twice. That is not allowed to happen. I need to clean that up”.

Victory in Halle would give Federer his 99th career title.

He will begin the defence of his Wimbledon title on 2 July.

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Eastbourne: Stan Wawrinka takes wildcard into Nature Valley International

  • Posted: Jun 21, 2018
2018 Nature Valley International on the BBC
Venue: Eastbourne Dates: 25-30 June
Coverage: Watch live on BBC Two, BBC iPlayer, BBC Red Button, Connected TVs, the BBC Sport website and app.

Three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka has been awarded a wildcard into Eastbourne as he continues his return from a knee injury.

Wawrinka, ranked 261st in the world, has not played in the event since 2007, when it was staged in Nottingham.

The Swiss was beaten by America’s Sam Querrey in the second round at Queen’s on Wednesday.

“I believe I am physically fit enough to play my best tennis now,” the 31-year-old said.

Wawrinka lost in the first round at last year’s Wimbledon after struggling with his knee, and had surgery on the injury in August 2017.

“It isn’t easy to start from zero after surgery and stay positive,” Wawrinka added.

“I am looking forward to getting used to playing important points again and feeling right mentally on the court.”

  • Edmund loses to Kyrgios at Queens as Djokovic advances
  • Federer saves two match points to beat Paire
  • Eastbourne 2018 coverage details
  • Live scores, schedule and results

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