Taylor Fritz is up and running on grass in 2023.

The American opened his campaign on the surface with victory at the BOSS OPEN on Thursday, defeating Aslan Karatsev 7-6(4), 6-3 at the ATP 250 event in Stuttgart.

Fritz lifted the trophy in Eastbourne and reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon last year and quickly found his range on grass again against Karatsev. He fired 14 aces and saved one set point at 4-5 in the first set to move past the World No. 48 in one hour and 25 minutes.

The second seed, currently ninth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin, will meet Marton Fucsovics in the quarter-final. Earlier this year, Fritz clinched his fifth tour-level title in Delray Beach.

Earlier, Hungarian qualifier Fucsovics backed up his first-round win against Denis Shapovalov by overcoming Chinese player Yibing Wu. The 31-year-old reached the quarter-finals in Stuttgart in 2019 and 2022 and will aim to better that when he next meets Fritz.

The All England Club announced Wednesday that the total prize money fund for The Championships 2023 will be a record £44,700,000.

The prize money on offer for tennis events this year (not including per diems) is an 11.2% increase on 2022 and a 17.1% increase on the pre-pandemic Championships in 2019.

The prize money distribution continues to place importance on supporting players in the early rounds of the event. The qualifying competition prize money fund has received a 14.5% increase on last year, while main draw singles players losing in the first round will receive £55,000, a 10% increase on 2022.

The prize pool for the Gentlemen’s and Ladies’ Doubles is a 10.7% increase on last year, while the Wheelchair and Quad Wheelchair Singles and Doubles events all rose by just shy of 20%.

The Ladies’ and Gentlemen’s Singles champions and runners-up will receive £2,350,000 and £1,175,000 respectively, with prize money for these two rounds rising to the levels they were in 2019.

Ian Hewitt, Chairman of the All England Club, commented: “We are delighted to offer record prize money to the players competing at The Championships this year, with double digit increases across the majority of events. Our ambition with this distribution is to return the singles champions and runners-up prize money to the levels in 2019 prior to the pandemic whilst, alongside, providing deserved support for players in the early rounds of the event.”

Wimbledon 2023 Prize Money in GBP:

*Doubles and mixed doubles prize money is per pair

Fresh off her fourth major title at Roland Garros, Iga Swiatek was the guest of honour at the graduation ceremony at the Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar in Mallorca, Spain on Wednesday. The WTA World No. 1 was invited to give a speech to this year’s graduating class.

Addressing the Class of 2023, Swiatek paid tribute to her idol, 22-time major champion Rafael Nadal.

“For the last few weeks, I’ve been looking at one quote at Roland Garros in Paris,” Swiatek said. “On Court Philippe-Chatrier it’s written, ‘The victory belongs to the most tenacious’.”

Nadal also spoke and had kind remarks for Swiatek, “Honestly, for us it’s a huge privilege to have you here today. I know that everybody here at the Academy, the students especially, appreciate your efforts, that after winning Roland Garros you are here inspiring all the kids.”

^{Rafa Nadal Academy Class of 2023 students celebrate their graduation. Credit: Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar}

Swiatek stated that Nadal’s example has impacted her version of “tenacity,” sharing that the Spaniard has been a constant reminder of how persevering and never giving up can make a difference in life.

“I often have the feeling that sometimes when I’m playing or when I’m doing things off court, that I should do them better or I should seek perfection,” Swiatek said. “But this shouldn’t be the sense. We should all focus on the process and giving 100 percent, no matter what you can give, because every day is different.”

Swiatek told those in attendance her admiration for Nadal grew steadily as she watched more of his matches, particularly during those moments when he was not at his best, when he struggled on the court and still managed to overcome the obstacles.

“These are the matches that inspired me,” she said. “So I hope you will be tenacious.”

Holger Rune has played his fair share of perfect tennis in rising to No. 6 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings at age 20. But what shots and skills would he choose to make the perfect player?

The Dane sat down with ATP Uncovered to map out his picks, going stroke by stroke and beyond.

Rune has won his past two matches against Novak Djokovic, including in the Rolex Paris Masters final last season, but he still selected the Serbian in four categories: backhand, return, flexibility and backhand drop shot.

“I like [his backhand] because it’s so simple,” Rune said. “And the way he changes direction, he does it like no other player.”

The only player to appear more often in Rune’s picks was one he has never faced on the ATP Tour: Roger Federer. The Swiss was named five times, chosen for his slice, volley, touch, forehand drop shot and celebrations. Rounding out the Big 3, Rafael Nadal was Rune’s pick for mental toughness and competitiveness.

Also featuring in Rune’s perfect player were Fernando Gonzalez (forehand), Nick Kyrgios (serve), Carlos Alcaraz (movement) and Daniil Medvedev (stamina). Rune backed himself for speed.

While Novak Djokovic was enjoying his historic 23rd major title Sunday, one of the Serbian’s career rivals, Andy Murray, was lifting the trophy at the ATP Challenger Tour 125 event in Surbiton.

Despite the different paths for the 36-year-olds who have met 36 times in their ATP Head2Head series [Djokovic leads 25-11], you won’t catch Murray comparing himself to other Grand Slam champions. The World No. 44 is enjoying his own unique journey and working hard in his 18th year on tour.

A few hours after the Scot won his second Challenger title of the season (Aix-en-Provence) Sunday, he was off to another Challenger event, this week’s Rothesay Open in Nottingham. While making the trip, Murray got a meaningful message from his wife, Kim.

“I got a message from my wife on Sunday evening when I was driving here [to Nottingham] and she said, ‘I just was watching Novak on the news and that he won in Paris. I’m so proud that you’re still grinding out in Challengers and still working as hard as you’ve ever [done],’” Murray said Tuesday at a press conference in Nottingham. “That means a lot to me.”

Murray has claimed three major titles of his own and been as high as World No. 1. At age 36, he is still enjoying being on court, whether it’s on a big stage or an intimate setting on the Challenger Tour.

“I would love to be competing for Grand Slams and be in that position. I’m also aware that what [Novak has] done is incredible and what he’s still doing at his age is brilliant,” Murray said. “But we have completely different journeys, what happened with my hip while I was at the peak of my career was really unfortunate.

“You can’t always be comparing yourself to other people when they are more successful than you. I’ve probably learned that more as I’ve gotten older. When I was in my mid-twenties, a lot of the questions would get asked like, ‘When are you going to do this? These guys around you are always winning.’

“And I always wanted what they had, but I think once I started to accept that I should not be comparing myself to other people and just focus on my own journey and work as hard as I possibly can to achieve the goals I want to, that’s all you can do and I’m still doing that now.

“Whether I win another Grand Slam or winning Challengers is the peak for me now, I’m okay with that because I’m doing what I love to do.”

Last week in Surbiton, Murray became the oldest grass-court champion in Challenger history (since 1978) and just the sixth player to win Challenger titles on both clay and grass in the same season. The Glasgow native will aim to continue his strong run this week in Nottingham, where he defeated Belgian qualifier Joris De Loore 6-3, 6-4 in the opening round. Murray will next face Hugo Grenier on Thursday.

France Tiafoe made a fast start to his grass-court season on Wednesday with a strong serving performance in his BOSS OPEN debut. The third-seeded American earned a 7-6(2), 6-4 win against Jiri Lehecka to advance to the quarter-finals at the Stuttgart ATP 250 event, where he will meet Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti.

It is Tiafoe’s 29th tour-level quarter-final and his third on grass after he reached that stage at The Queen’s Club in 2018 and 2021. The American improved to 24-9 on the season with his latest victory, his best result of 2023 coming on home soil with his Houston title run in April.

The 25-year-old saved all three break points against him in his Stuttgart opener with the help of nine aces and an 84 per cent win rate (37/44) on first serve. After running away with the first-set tie-break, Tiafoe converted his lone break chance of the match to edge in front at 5-4 in the second set. In serving out the match, he erased two break points before clinching victory on his second match point.

Tiafoe was back on the court for the first time after his four-set defeat to eventual semi-finalist Alexander Zverev in the Roland Garros third round. The American defeated Filip Krajinovic and Aslan Karatsev in Paris before being turned back in an entertaining evening matchup against Zverev in which he lost two tie-breaks.

With his victory in Stuttgart, Tiafoe has already bettered his grass-court ATP Tour results from last season, when he exited in the opening round at The Queen’s Club and Eastbourne. But his game clicked in time for Wimbledon last year, where he enjoyed a career-best run to the fourth round before a five-set defeat to David Goffin.

Lorenzo Musetti and Hubert Hurkacz each sealed quarter-final spots Wednesday at the BOSS OPEN, but the pair took starkly contrasting paths to the last eight.

The sixth-seeded Musetti delivered a classy display at the grass-court ATP 250 in Stuttgart to see off Gregoire Barrere 6-3, 6-3. The Italian saved all seven break points he faced in a 96-minute encounter during which he also produced some trademark moments of magic off his backhand wing.

“Today I think I played really great tennis,” said Musetti, whose opponent in his first tour-level quarter-final on grass will be third seed Frances Tiafoe or Jiri Lehecka. “I showed that I can play really, really well even on grass. I surprised [myself] a little bit, because I was serving really big, especially in the important moments.

“I’m really happy because Gregoire is a really good player and I was thinking he could be a tough opponent, but today I think I showed a really great level.”

Hurkacz had to battle back from the brink for his first win in three appearances in Stuttgart. The fourth seed was two points from defeat against Yosuke Watanuki when the pair was locked at 5/5 in the second-set tie-break, but Hurkacz held firm for a 4-6, 7-6(5), 7-6(5) second-round triumph.

The World No. 14 Hurkacz, who won his maiden ATP Tour title on grass at the ATP 500 event in Halle last year, will play Christopher O’Connell next. The Australian earlier prevailed 7-6(5), 6-3 against Lorenzo Sonego to reach his fifth tour-level quarter-final of the season.