Watch five of the best shots as Marin Cilic, the highest remaining seed at Queen’s club, eases past qualifier Stefan Kozlov 6-0, 6-4 to make it through to the quarter-finals.
| Eastbourne 2017 |
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| Venue: Devonshire Park, Eastbourne Date: 26 June-1 July Coverage: Live across BBC TV, radio and online |
World number two Simona Halep has accepted a wildcard to appear at Eastbourne for the first time.
It will be the Romanian’s only grass-court tournament before Wimbledon after she missed the Aegon Classic in Birmingham with an ankle injury.
The 25-year-old won the Madrid Open and reached the French Open final during the clay-court season.
Seven of the top 10 women’s players will appear at Eastbourne, including world number one Angelique Kerber.
“The quality of the draw is very high so I’m hoping for some great matches to give me the best possible preparation ahead of Wimbledon,” Halep said.
She reached the quarter-finals of Wimbledon last year, losing 7-5 7-6 (7-2) to Kerber.
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It hasn’t been all about tennis for players this week. ATPWorldTour.com provides a recap of the highlights.
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Gerry Weber Open – Halle, Germany
Roger Federer, Dominic Thiem, Philipp Kohlschreiber and Boris Becker were among those to attend the player party on Tuesday evening.
Defending champion Florian Mayer was the lucky player to assist with the draw ceremony.
Kei Nishikori, Gael Monfils, Lucas Pouille, Gilles Simon, Robin Haase, David Ferrer mingled with sponsors and held autograph sessions for fans.
Aegon Championships – London, U.K.
Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka and Milos Raonic participated in media day.
Wawrinka also led a meet-and-greet to help promote British Tennis membership.
Nick Kyrgios assisted with the on-site draw ceremony.
John Isner took part in an entertaining return of serve challenge.
Sam Querrey, Henri Kontinen, Daniel Nestor and Isner were among the players to take part in a pro-am.
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Top seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo stayed unbeaten on the grass on Wednesday in Halle, moving into the Gerry Weber Open quarter-finals with a 6-4, 4-6, 10-8 victory against Japan’s Kei Nishikori and Spaniard Fernando Verdasco.
Kubot/Melo, champions at the Ricoh Open in s’-Hertogenbosch on Sunday, won 83 per cent of their first-serve points to advance in 83 minutes. They will next play Spaniards Roberto Bautista Agut and David Ferrer.
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German qualifiers Andre Begemann and Tim Puetz dismissed the French team of Richard Gasquet and Lucas Pouille 6-3, 6-4. The Germans dropped only two first-serve points (27/29) and saved all three break points. They will next face second seeds and two-time defending champions Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram.
LONDON DOUBLES
At The Queen’s Club, Roland Garros champions Ryan Harrison and Michael Venus started their London campaign with a 6-2, 6-4 win against Spaniards Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez (no relation).
| 2017 Aegon Championships |
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| Venue: Queen’s Club, London Dates: 19-25 June |
| Coverage: Comprehensive live coverage on BBC One, BBC Two, Red Button, Connected TV and online daily |
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga became the latest seed to lose at the Aegon Championships, beaten in straight sets by Luxembourg’s Gilles Muller.
The Frenchman, seeded fifth, lost 6-4 6-4 in the second round at Queen’s.
Tsonga’s exit follows defeats for Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka and Milos Raonic – the top three seeds – on Tuesday.
Croatia’s fourth seed Marin Cilic and Bulgarian sixth seed Grigor Dimitrov are the leading players left in the draw at the London tournament.
Czech seventh seed Tomas Berdych came through a tight contest against 18-year-old Canadian Denis Shapovalov.
Berdych, 31, earned his first break point of the match after two hours and 14 minutes, converting it to win 7-6 (7-4) 6-7 (4-7) 7-5.
“It was a really great match,” said Berdych, who was a beaten Wimbledon finalist in 2010.
“Denis put up some great tennis and made me work really hard.”
Muller, ranked 26th, is through to the quarter-finals for the third straight year and is now on a six-match winning run on grass.
The 34-year-old, who won the s-Hertogenbosch title in the Netherlands last week, did not face a break point against Tsonga. He will play Australian Jordan Thompson, who beat Murray, or American Sam Querrey in the third round.
“My serve is working great. It’s good at this time of the year on the grass – you need a good serve so I’m happy with that,” said Muller.
Tsonga, runner-up at Queen’s in 2011, said: “He just played good tennis. Sometimes you cannot do anything because the guy in front of you is playing well.
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“It doesn’t affect anything for me. Sometimes you play well; sometimes it’s difficult. It’s part of the game.
“I will stay here playing on grass and try to do better next week.”
Dimitrov, 26, fought back to beat France’s Julien Benneteau 4-6 6-3 6-4 as the temperature exceeded 30C for the third day in a row.
“I like the heat a lot,” said Dimitrov, the 2014 champion. “I love it. The warmer it is, the better it is – I don’t shy away from that.”
The three-time champion owed a substantial sum to an investment company.
Watch five of the best shots as Grigor Dimitrov beats Julien Benneteau 4-6 6-3 6-4 in the second round of the Aegon Championships.