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Birmingham Classic: Naomi Osaka retires; Elina Svitolina through to quarter-finals

  • Posted: Jun 20, 2018

Japan’s Naomi Osaka retired from her second-round match against Dalila Jakupovic in Birmingham with an abdominal problem.

Osaka, ranked 18th in the world, struggled on serve and lost the first set 6-3 before calling for the trainer.

She previously struggled with an abdominal injury during last year’s hard-court season.

Slovenian qualifier Jakupovic now faces Slovakia’s Magdalena Rybarikova in the Nature Valley Classic quarter-finals.

Rybarikova, who reached the Wimbledon semi-finals last year, overcame Kristina Mladenovic of France 3-6 6-2 6-1.

Second seed Elina Svitolina reached the last 16 in Birmingham for the first time with a 6-4 6-2 win over Alize Cornet of France.

The Ukrainian will play Romania’s Mihaela Buzarnescu on Friday, following her 4-6 6-3 6-2 win over Czech Petra Martic.

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Osaka is scheduled to play in the WTA event at Eastbourne, which begins on 25 June.

Despite the injury, she hit nine winners against Jakupovic, but the big-hitting Slovenian broke to love in the seventh game.

Osaka was unable to capitalise on two break points in the next game and she struggled to generate power on her serve, eventually retiring after 33 minutes.

“It’s never nice to win when somebody’s injured. I feel sorry for her,” Jakupovic told Eurosport.

“I was trying to focus on my play and I didn’t really look on her side, but I hope she’s going to be better for her next tournament.”

At the WTA event in Mallorca, former world number one Angelique Kerber fell 5-7 6-2 6-1 to American Alison Riske, and French top seed Caroline Garcia beat Sweden’s Johanna Larsson 6-4 6-3.

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Fever-Tree Championships 2018: Stan Wawrinka beaten by Sam Querry at Queen's

  • Posted: Jun 20, 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.

Stan Wawrinka failed to convert 12 break points as he lost to Sam Querrey in the second round of the Fever-Tree Championships at Queen’s.

The Swiss, who has dropped to 261st in the world after injury, was beaten 7-5 6-7 (3-7) 6-1 by the American.

Wawrinka, a three-time Grand Slam champion, wasted seven set points at 5-4 in the first set and only capitalised on one of 13 break points in the match.

Querrey dominated on serve, hitting 25 aces as he closed out victory.

  • Watch live BBC TV coverage from Queen’s Club
  • Evans not awarded Wimbledon wildcard
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  • Live scores, schedule and results

Fifth seed and 2010 champion Querrey will face Croatian top seed Marin Cilic, who came from behind to beat Luxembourg’s Gilles Muller 4-6 6-3 6-3.

It was a battle of the big servers as the pair delivered 36 aces between them, with Cilic edging Muller 19-17.

American Frances Tiafoe reached his first ATP grass-court quarter-final with a 6-4 2-6 6-4 win over Leonardo Mayer of Argentina.

In the ATP grass-court tournament in Halle, French Open runner-up and third seed Dominic Thiem was stunned 6-2 7-5 by world number 52 Yuichi Sugita of Japan.

Seventh seed Kei Nishikori was also knocked out, with Russia’s Karen Khachanov beating the Japanese player 6-2 6-2 to go through to the quarter-finals.

Khachanov, who reached the fourth round at this year’s French Open, will next face Roberto Bautista Agut after the Spanish fourth seed beat Dutchman Robin Haase 4-6 7-5 6-4.

The top seed in Halle is Swiss eight-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer, who plays Frenchman Benoit Paire on Thursday for a place in the last eight.

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World number one Halep withdraws from Eastbourne

  • Posted: Jun 20, 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.

Simona Halep has withdrawn from next week’s tournament in Eastbourne – the final grass-court event before Wimbledon – because of injury.

Romania’s world number one said she had “yet to recover” from pain and inflammation in her Achilles tendon, which began during the French Open.

Halep, 26, went on to claim her first Grand Slam title at Roland Garros.

“I’ve been advised by my doctors that it needs more rest while continuing treatment,” she said in a statement.

  • Eastbourne 2018 coverage
  • Konta beaten by Kvitova in Birmingham
  • Live scores, schedule and results

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'A matter of principle': No Wimbledon wildcard for Evans after ban

  • Posted: Jun 20, 2018
Wimbledon 2018 on the BBC
Coverage: Watch live on BBC TV, BBC iPlayer, BBC Red Button, Connected TVs, the BBC Sport website and app from 2-15 July.

Britain’s Dan Evans has not been awarded a Wimbledon wildcard because of what organisers described as a matter of “principle” after he served a ban for taking cocaine.

The former world number 41 has been in fine form since his return in April and was runner-up in the Nature Valley Open final in Nottingham on Sunday.

It means the 28-year-old must play in this week’s pre-qualifying tournament.

There were main-draw wildcards for eight Britons, including Katie Boulter.

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‘Decision based on principle’

Evans could prove difficult opposition for other players involved in pre-qualifying, having won 16 of his 21 matches since returning from his ban.

But his good form, which has lifted him to 340th in the world rankings, has not been enough to persuade Wimbledon organisers to award him a wildcard.

“This decision is based on principle in the immediacy of his return from a suspension from competition,” the All England Club said in a statement.

“He will be competing in the pre-qualifying at the All England Club this week for the opportunity to secure one of the remaining places into qualifying.”

Evans was given a wildcard for this week’s Fever-Tree Championships at Queen’s Club, where he lost in three sets to France’s Adrian Mannarino in the first round on Tuesday.

Boulter rewarded for biggest win

Boulter, who secured the biggest win of her career last week when she beat former US Open champion Sam Stosur in Nottingham, is joined by Naomi Broady, Harriet Dart, Katy Dunne, Katie Swan and Gabriella Taylor in the main draw.

Compatriots Liam Broady and Jay Clarke were given men’s main-draw wildcards, while Australian teenager Alex de Minaur – who beat Evans in the Nottingham final – also received one.

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But there was no wildcard for either qualifying or the main draw for Laura Robson, who won British hearts 10 years ago with the junior Wimbledon title but has struggled with injuries in recent years.

Australian former Wimbledon singles champion Lleyton Hewitt, who has come out of retirement this year to play in doubles, received a wildcard for the men’s doubles.

Analysis

BBC tennis correspondent Russell Fuller

Twelve months ago, Maria Sharapova found herself in a similar position as she returned from suspension. She announced on her website she would not be requesting a wildcard into the main draw, in the knowledge the response from the All England Club was very likely to be negative.

There is no doubt Evans’ recent form on grass would normally attract some sort of wildcard. He has performed magnificently since his return, and the other British players involved in pre-qualifying will not want to see him in their half of the draw.

All the British players offered main draw wildcards are within the top 250 in the world – including a promising batch of women who are mostly in their very early 20s.

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'I won't rule anything out' – Murray says he could miss Wimbledon

  • Posted: Jun 19, 2018

Andy Murray says he could play Eastbourne and then skip Wimbledon as he assesses the best way to continue his comeback after a year out with a hip injury.

The Briton, 31, showed some encouraging signs before losing to Nick Kyrgios at Queen’s in his first match back.

Wimbledon, which Murray has won twice, starts on 2 July, with a warm-up event in Eastbourne next week.

“I need to wait and see what happens,” said the former world number one.

“I don’t know exactly what’s best for me just now.”

I wouldn’t rule out playing Eastbourne and not playing Wimbledon

Andy Murray

Scot Murray will see how his body feels after playing for over two and a half hours against world number 21 Kyrgios.

He had not played competitively since losing in the Wimbledon quarter-finals to American Sam Querrey last July.

Murray, who has dropped to 156th in the world rankings, had surgery on his right hip in January.

“I won’t rule anything out just now,” he said about his upcoming plans. “I wouldn’t rule out playing Eastbourne and not playing Wimbledon.

“I wouldn’t rule out playing a tournament next and trying to get matches in an exhibition tournament as well to get ready for Wimbledon.

“If I wake up on Wednesday morning and I really don’t feel good then that’s obviously not a great sign.”

Murray showed glimpses of his ability against Kyrgios at the Fever-Tree Championships, before starting to tire as the match wore on.

The two-time Wimbledon champion won the first set before Kyrgios fought back for a 2-6 7-6 (7-4) 7-5 win.

“I thought I did OK,” said Murray. “I thought my level at times was good, sometimes not so good.

“I’m happy I got out there and competed and performed respectably.”

Murray has a good chance of going deep into the Wimbledon draw if he does play, according to Kyrgios.

“If he is feeling good then I don’t see any reason why not,” he said.

“There is only a handful of guys who can really play on grass. He’s got a good chance.”

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