World No. 1 Andy Murray will start his campaign for a record sixth title at the Aegon Championships in London feeling much more confident than he was earlier this month amidst his struggles on clay.
The 30 year old started Roland Garros with a 4-4 record on the red dirt and entered the tournament having lost his last match at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia to Italian Fabio Fognini.
But the Scot turned his clay season around in Paris, winning five consecutive matches to reach the semi-finals. Murray fell to Stan Wawrinka in a five-set battle. “I’m happier with where my game is at… Obviously I’m playing better now than I was before [Roland Garros] in practice. I have been hitting the ball a lot better than I was,” Murray said.
Yet the top seed in London believes he still has room for improvement as he kicks off his grass-court season in Great Britain. Murray said he’d like to see his serve as well as his movement get better as he once against becomes accustomed to the turf at The Queen’s Club. “I was a lot closer to where I want to be but still far from how I want to be playing,” he said.
Like Rafael Nadal’s accomplishments at Barcelona and Monte-Carlo, Murray’s achievements at The Queen’s Club are unparalleled. Last year, the Scot became the first man in the 126-year history of the tournament to win the event five times.
“This tournament over my career has been for sure my best tournament. I love playing here,” Murray said.
He will have the usual intense competition for the title. Every past champion since 2009 is in the field, including Marin Cilic (2012), Sam Querrey (2010) and Grigor Dimitrov (2014). Five of the Top 10 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, including World No. 3 Stan Wawrinka, are also in the draw.
“The field this year is really strong, as it is most years,” Murray said.
Read Draw Preview: Murray Faces Tough Path For More London History
Last year, Murray solved Milos Raonic’s serve just in time to win the record fifth title. The Scot went on to win his second Wimbledon title as well. He later claimed a third title in London with his first Nitto ATP Finals title.
Aegon Championships Title Leaders
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Andy Murray |
2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016 |
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Andy Roddick |
2003, 2004, 2005, 2007 |
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Lleyton Hewitt |
2000, 2001, 2002, 2006 |
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Boris Becker |
1985, 1987, 1988, 1996 |
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John McEnroe |
1979, 1980, 1981, 1984 |
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Roy Emerson |
1963, 1964, 1965, 1966 |
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Anthony Wilding |
1907, 1910, 1911, 1912 |
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Major J.G. Ritchie |
1902, 1904, 1906, 1909 |
The top seed is making his 12th Aegon Championships appearance, but his first as World No. 1. Murray boasts a remarkable 30-5 record at the event with titles in each of the past four odd years (2009, 2011, 2013, 2015). He is also on a 14-match win streak on grass and has a 125-26 record in Great Britain (.828).
Learn More In Murray’s FedEx ATP Win/Loss Section
British number two Naomi Broady earned one of the best wins of her career by beating France’s Alize Cornet at the Aegon Classic in Birmingham.
The 27-year-old, who is ranked 111, took her third match point to win 7-6 (7-3) 6-0 against the world number 38.
Cornet, who reached the French Open last 16 earlier this month, won the opening three games before Broady fought back to reach the second round.
Earlier, Heather Watson lost 6-2 5-7 6-3 to world number five Elina Svitolina.
Broady reached a career-high ranking of 76 last year, but has fallen outside the top 100 over the past four months.
However, she showed her battling qualities to fight back for her fifth win against a top-50 ranked player.
“The first two games were really long, I think we had been playing 20 minutes, and I thought ‘stick with it’,” Broady said.
“Then I got my stuff together. I have played lots of tie-breaks recently so I am in tip-top tie-break form.
“It is definitely a big win. I’m fighting to get back inside top 100, hopefully I can get my ranking up before the US Open – that’s my main focus.”
Former British number one Watson has dropped to 126th in the rankings after a difficult season in which she has won just five matches.
But there were signs of encouragement as she pushed Ukraine’s Svitolina to a deciding set.
The 25-year-old from Guernsey made too many errors as Svitolina took the opening set, but recovered in the second to break the French Open quarter-finalist’s serve to lead 6-5.
Watson served out the set confidently, finishing with a forehand winner down the line, only to drop serve in the fourth game of the decider as Svitolina saw out victory.
Find out how to get into tennis in our special guide.
| 2017 Aegon Championships |
|---|
| 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 |
Canadian teenager Denis Shapovalov upset British number two Kyle Edmund with a terrific performance on day one of the Aegon Championships in London.
Shapovalov, 18, won 7-6 (7-4) 4-6 6-4 at Queen’s Club and goes on to face Czech seventh seed Tomas Berdych.
This was the biggest win of the Wimbledon junior champion’s burgeoning career, and a setback for Edmund, 22.
The Briton is ranked 146 places higher than Shapovalov at 47th and reached the quarter-finals at Queen’s last year.
“It’s definitely one of the biggest wins,” the Canadian wildcard told BBC Sport.
“Kyle is an unbelievable player.
“It’s just incredible, the feelings I have being able to play on Centre Court like this in front of thousands of people and against such a great player.”
Monday’s encounter was a rematch of a Davis Cup contest in February, which ended when Shapovalov was defaulted for hitting a ball in frustration that fractured umpire Arnaud Gabas’s eye socket.
“Before the match I felt pretty tight,” said Shapovalov.
“Once I got into it, it was fine. I didn’t have many thoughts except I was thinking ‘please don’t do anything dumb this match. So many cameras on me’.
“But I didn’t really think about the incident. It was a new match. It’s behind me now.”
Grigor Dimitrov and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga also progressed on the opening day at Queen’s, but Nick Kyrgios retired with an injury.
The Australian ninth seed aggravated a hip problem when he slipped at the baseline while playing Donald Young, but is optimistic he will recover for Wimbledon.
Bulgarian sixth seed Dimitrov, champion in 2014, beat American Ryan Harrison 6-3 6-1, and fifth seed Tsonga beat fellow Frenchman Adrian Mannarino 6-2 6-2.
Reigning champion Andy Murray plays compatriot Aljaz Bedene on Tuesday.
With an on-court temperature well in excess of 30C, Shapovalov kept a cooler head with the match on the line against the more experienced Edmund.
The Canadian showed why he is widely tipped to build on last year’s Wimbledon junior title with an impressive display.
His attacking style, swinging left-handed serve and single-handed backhand brought him only his second win on the ATP Tour.
He took a tight opening set on the tie-break before dropping serve to love with a loose game at the start of the second.
Edmund served his way to one set all but was playing catch-up serving second in the decider, and the pressure told.
Two double-faults in a row saw him slip 0-40 – and three match points – down, and Shapovalov converted the third when the Briton framed a forehand.
“He held at four-all, and then I think I made an unforced error on the first point and two double faults. That’s basically it,” said Edmund.
“It doesn’t help when you haven’t got much margin for error if you lose those points. But it’s a tennis match, so I’ve just got to try to not do it again.”
Edmund is playing doubles with Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis at Queen’s Club, and will head to Eastbourne next week for his final tournament before Wimbledon.
The Briton has a 3-10 career record on grass at the top level and has yet to win in four attempts in the main draw at Wimbledon.
“It’s just one match at a time,” he said. “I have lost matches on grass, I have won matches on grass.
“So I don’t think grass has anything to do with it. It’s the same for everyone.”
Watch five of the best shots as Kyle Edmund suffers a shock first-round exit at Queen’s Club to Canadian qualifier Denis Shapovalov.
2014 champion Dimitrov also advances
In an all-French first-round contest, fifth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga made a strong start to his Aegon Championships campaign as he defeated Adrian Mannarino 6-2, 6-2 on a hot day at The Queen’s Club in London.
Tsonga, who this week returned to the Top 10 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, was largely untroubled in his first grass-court outing of the season. The right-hander advanced in 66 minutes, converting five of his 13 break points to avenge the defeat he suffered to Mannarino a few weeks ago on the clay in Monte-Carlo.
“For me it was really important to have a victory,” said Tsonga, who suffered the disappointment of a first-round loss at Roland Garros in his last tournament. “On clay it was difficult. So it’s good to be back and be able to play second round in Queen’s. I took some time off, and I practised a lot. I had the good sense to have a grass court at my house, so I just practised and prepare this grass season, which is a good surface for me. Hopefully I will be able to do something good.”
The 32-year-old Tsonga is making his sixth appearance at this ATP World Tour 500 tournament. He reached the final in 2011, finishing runner-up to Andy Murray. The Frenchman, also a former Wimbledon semi-finalist (2011-12), is looking for his first grass-court title this week.
Sixth seed Grigor Dimitrov also advanced for the loss of just four games, dismissing Ryan Harrison 6-3, 6-1 in 54 minutes. The Bulgarian improved to a 3-1 lead in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series as he lost only eight points on serve and broke Harrison four times.
The 26-year-old Dimitrov rebounded strongly from the opening-round exit he suffered last week in Stuttgart (l. to Janowicz). The right-hander won the title at The Queen’s Club in 2014 (d. Lopez), one of six ATP World Tour titles to his name. He is chasing his third title of the season this week, following victories in Brisbane (d. Nishikori) and Sofia (d. Goffin), which bookended a run to the Australian Open semi-finals (l. to Nadal).
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| 2017 Aegon Championships |
|---|
| Venue: Queen’s Club, London Dates: 19-25 June |
Australia’s Nick Kyrgios said he is “100%” optimistic about playing at Wimbledon despite withdrawing from the Aegon Championships at Queen’s Club because of injury.
The 22-year-old was playing American Donald Young in the first round when he slipped and fell at the baseline.
After courtside treatment to his hip, Kyrgios continued until the tie-break but retired after Young took it 7-3.
Kyrgios withdrew from recent events in Monte Carlo and Rome with a hip injury.
“It just was a sharp pain when I fell,” said the world number 20.
“I started feeling it when I was walking, when I was landing on my serve. It’s exactly what I was feeling in Paris. I mean, it’s tough to play through.”
He added: “I felt pretty much everything I was feeling a month ago. It’s not great at the moment. But we’ll see.”
Asked about his chances of recovering in time for Wimbledon, which gets under way on 3 July, Kyrgios said: “I’d play Wimbledon if I was injured pretty bad anyway.
“I’m here anyway. I don’t really have time to go home or anything. Yeah, I will be playing, for sure.”
And the Australian joked that the enforced lay-off meant he might spend the coming days at a pub in Wimbledon village.
“Dog & Fox,” he replied, when asked for his immediate plans.
Kyrgios beat Rafael Nadal on his way to the Wimbledon quarter-finals three years ago, and lost to eventual champion Andy Murray in the fourth round last year.
“This is a big tournament but I think when you’ve got Wimbledon, or any of the Grand Slams, looming, you don’t hang in there,” former Davis Cup captain John Lloyd told BBC Sport.
“With Wimbledon coming, you can’t take any chances.”
| Wimbledon’s Greatest Moment |
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| Coverage: BBC Radio 5 live counts down the top 10 moments in a special programme on Wednesday, 28 June starting at 20:30 BST |
Over the past 90 years, the BBC and Wimbledon have served up some incredible sporting memories.
And now we are giving you the chance to pick your top three moments.
Our panel of BBC tennis experts have narrowed it down to 10 moments – you can watch them all below (UK users only) and then make your choice, but please remember to pick your top three in order.
It closes on 14:00 BST on Tuesday, 27 June and the results will be counted down from 10 to one during a BBC Radio 5 live special on Wednesday, 28 June starting at 20:30.
The BBC is celebrating 90 years at Wimbledon by giving you the chance to vote for your favourite moment from the All England Club.
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Forty two years ago, Arthur Ashe made history by becoming the first black man to win the Wimbledon singles championship. During his career, the American struck up an intense rivalry with compatriot Jimmy Connors and in their three previous meetings, eight-time major winner Connors had come out on top. But this was Ashe’s day.
The 31-year-old took the first set in just 19 minutes and secured a second 6-1 rout almost as quickly. Connors recovered to take the third 7-5 but Ashe saw out the deciding fourth set to secure an unexpected title.
Virginia Wade won three Grand Slam singles titles and it was her victory in the 1977 women’s final at Wimbledon that became the pinnacle of her career. Three days before her 32nd birthday, and on her 16th attempt, Wade beat Betty Stove in three sets to lift the trophy.
Her victory was even more memorable because it came in the Silver Jubilee year, and the prize was presented by Queen Elizabeth II herself.
Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe’s epic fourth-set tie-break has gone down in tennis history. It lasted 22 minutes and saw McEnroe save five match points before taking the final to a deciding set. Borg won it to prevail 1-6 7-5 6-3 6-7 (16-18) 8-6 and secure his fifth title in a row.
The following year, it was finally McEnroe’s time to shine, ending the Swede’s 41-match winning run at Wimbledon with victory in four sets.
At just 17 years of age, West Germany’s Boris Becker became the youngest player to win Wimbledon. An unseeded outsider before the 1985 tournament began, Becker displayed his flamboyant and aggressive style to overpower eighth seed Kevin Curren, a South-African-born American, 6-3 6-7 7-6 6-4 in the final. It was the first of his six Grand Slam titles – and the first of three at the All England Club.
Martina Navratilova – arguably Wimbledon’s greatest female player – won her final Grand Slam singles title at SW19 in 1990. The Czech was made to wait a while for her record ninth crown, having lost to Germany’s Steffi Graf in the final for the previous two years.
She finally achieved the feat, aged 33, when she beat first-time finalist Zina Garrison 6-4 6-1 in 75 minutes.
A Wimbledon final on a Monday? It happened in 2001. The rain had severely delayed the schedule and wildcard Croat Goran Ivanisevic – who beat Britain’s Tim Henman in the semi-finals – had to wait until the third Monday of the tournament to face Australian Pat Rafter in the final.
Thousands of people queued up overnight for the unreserved seats on Centre Court and the raucous crowd got to witness an epic five-set encounter. Ivanisevic, who had lost three previous finals, won 6-3 3-6 6-3 2-6 9-7 – and he remains the only man to have won a Grand Slam as a wildcard.
The defending champion against her kid sister. In 2002, Wimbledon hosted its first all-Williams final. Eldest sister Venus had beaten Serena in the semi-finals on her way to winning the previous year’s title, meaning this represented an opportunity for 21-year-old Serena to avenge that defeat. She did exactly that. A 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 victory clinched her maiden Wimbledon title and started to move Serena out of the shadow of her sister.
Rafael Nadal’s Wimbledon final against Swiss Roger Federer nine years ago was thrilling and intense – and went on even after the sun went down over the All England club.
In a rain-affected battle between two tennis heavyweights, the Spaniard missed two championship points in the fourth set only to recover to win 6-4 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 6-7 (8-10) 9-7. It remains the longest Wimbledon men’s singles final in history at four hours, 48 minutes.
What looked like an unremarkable first-round match on court 18, turned into a Wimbledon classic. At 18:13 on Tuesday, 22 June, American John Isner and Frenchman Nicolas Mahut stepped out on to the grass. Three days later – after 11 hours and five minutes on court – Isner finally prevailed, winning the fifth and deciding set 70-68.
There is now a blue plaque on the wall outside the court to commemorate the longest match in Wimbledon history.
There were tears on court in 2012 when Britain’s Andy Murray lost in his first Wimbledon final against Roger Federer.
Fast forward a year and it was a very different story. Murray ended Britain’s 77-year wait for a men’s champion with a straight-set victory over Serb world number one Novak Djokovic. Cue bedlam on Centre Court – and celebrations up and down the country.
An executive summary of what every fan should know about the coming week on the ATP World Tour
10 THINGS TO WATCH AT QUEEN’S CLUB
Best Event: Players selected the Aegon Championships as the ATP World Tour 500 Tournament of the Year in 2015 and 2016. The event received ATP World Tour 250 honors in 2013 and 2014.
Very Strong Field: Five of the Top 10 players in the Emirates ATP Rankings are in this week’s field: World No. 1 and five-time champion Andy Murray, Roland Garros runner-up Stan Wawrinka, 2016 finalist Milos Raonic, 2012 champion Marin Cilic and 2011 finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
Past Champs: Murray is the only five-time champion in event history (est. 1890). All past champs since 2009 are in the 2017 field, including Cilic, Sam Querrey (2010) and Grigor Dimitrov (2014).
Murray Returns: Murray is making his 12th tournament appearance, but first as World No. 1. He has topped the Emirates ATP Rankings for 33 weeks. Murray is 30-5 at the Aegon Championships with titles in each of the last four odd years (2009, 2011, 2013, 2015). Murray is on a 14-match win streak on grass and boasts a 125-26 record in Great Britain (.828). He is 526-156 elsewhere (.771).
Raonic In London: The No. 3 seed Raonic returns to London, where last year he lost to Murray in finals at the Aegon Championships and Wimbledon, and in the semi-finals of the Nitto ATP Finals. Raonic has played at 27 tournaments since his last title at Brisbane in January 2016 (d. Federer).
Wawrinka Seeks Grass Glory: None of Wawrinka’s 16 ATP World Tour titles, and only one of his 28 finals, have come on grass. The World No. 3 and Swiss No. 1 is making his fifth appearance at the Aegon Championships, where he enjoyed a run to the semi-finals in 2014 (l. to Dimitrov).
Dimitrov Back Again: The No. 6 seed Dimitrov makes his ninth straight trip to Queen’s Club. He started the 2017 season 16-1 with his first titles since the 2014 Aegon Championships at Brisbane and Sofia. But the Bulgarian is 5-9 over the last four months with no semi-final appearances.
#NextGenATP Stars: Wimbledon junior champion Denis Shapovalov, fellow teen qualifier Stefan Kozlov, and 21-year-olds Daniil Medvedev and Thanasi Kokkinakis are in the draw. Kokkinakis earned his first singles win in 21 months last week at ’s-Hertogenbosch before falling to Medvedev.
Wild Cards: Five Brits are in the field, including wild cards Cameron Norrie and James Ward. Norrie ended his junior season at Texas Christian University as the top-ranked player in college tennis. He makes his ATP World Tour debut against Querrey. Ward, a semi-finalist here in 2011, meets Julien Benneteau. Kokkinakis received the other wild card and opens against Raonic.
Doubles Depth: Seven of the 16 teams in the doubles draw have won a Grand Slam title, including two-time defending champions Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut. The Frenchmen are seeded second behind Australian Open champions Henri Kontinen and John Peers. Five-time champions Bob and Mike Bryan have played 21 events since their last title at Rome in May 2016.
10 THINGS TO WATCH IN HALLE
Silver Anniversary: This is the 25th edition of the Gerry Weber Open and the 2017 field features seven of the Top 20 players in the Emirates ATP Rankings. The top four seeds are eight-time champion Roger Federer, Dominic Thiem, Kei Nishikori and 2016 finalist Alexander Zverev.
Former Champions: Federer has won the Halle title more than any other tournament during his storied career. He is joined in the field by three other past champions — all of whom are German: Tommy Haas (2009, 2012), Philipp Kohlschreiber (2011) and Florian Mayer (2016).
King of Grass: Federer, making his 15th Halle appearance, is the most successful grass-court player in the Open Era with 15 titles and a 152-24 record (.864). Last week at Stuttgart, he blew a match point against Haas and suffered his first opening-match loss on grass since 2002 Wimbledon. Federer is 54-6 at Halle and has never lost before the quarter-finals. He is one win shy of 1,100 and 37 aces shy of 10,000 (not including aces at Davis Cup, 2000 Olympics and 2004 Olympics). Ivo Karlovic and Goran Ivanisevic are the only men to eclipse 10,000 aces since 1991.
German Title Hopes: Alexander and Mischa Zverev, who each reached semi-finals last week, are among eight Germans in Halle. Haas is one of six Germans to win the Halle title, but the only one to do so twice, beating Novak Djokovic and Federer in the 2009 and 2012 finals respectively.
Haas Defying Age: Last week at Stuttgart, the 39-year-old Haas became the oldest quarter-finalist on tour since Jimmy Connors, 42, at 1995 Halle. As the World No. 302, he became the lowest- ranked player to defeat Federer since countryman Bjorn Phau at 1999 Washington (No. 407). Haas also joined Djokovic and Lleyton Hewitt as the only players with two grass-court wins over Federer.
Mayer Reigning Champion: Last year, a 192nd-ranked Mayer edged A. Zverev in the second all- German final in Gerry Weber Open history (Kohlschreiber d. Philipp Petzschner in 2011). Mayer returns this week as the World No. 134 after dropping the 500 points he earned at 2016 Halle.
Pouille vs Struff: No. 6 seed Lucas Pouille, one of five Frenchmen in the draw, meets Jan- Lennard Struff in the first round after saving a match point against him en route to the Stuttgart title. Henri Leconte is the only Halle champion from France, winning the inaugural title in 1993.
#NextGenATP Players: A. Zverev, Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev are #NextGenATP players competing at Halle. Zverev has won titles this season at Montpellier, Munich and Rome.
Wild Cards: Haas, Rublev and Dustin Brown are the wild cards. Brown reached the Halle quarter- finals in 2014 and Rublev, who is ranked a career-high No. 106, is making his main draw debut.
Doubles Draw: Two-time defending champions Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram are the No. 2 seeds behind Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo. Last week at ’s-Hertogenbosch, Kubot and Melo defeated Klaasen and Ram for their third title of 2017. The Zverevs will play doubles together.