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Wimbledon: Andy Murray's maiden win at All England Club named greatest moment

  • Posted: Jun 28, 2017
Wimbledon 2017 on the BBC
Venue: All England Club Dates: 3-16 July Starts: 11:30 BST
Live: Coverage across BBC TV, BBC Radio and BBC Sport website with further coverage on Red Button, Connected TVs and app.

What is Wimbledon’s greatest moment?

Almost 30,000 of you chose your top three moments, from a list compiled by a panel of our tennis experts, to help us celebrate 90 years of the BBC at Wimbledon.

And the results, revealed during a Radio 5 live programme, are in.

The best moment at Wimbledon – with 64% of users placing it in their top three – is Andy Murray winning his maiden title in 2013 and ending Britain’s 77-year wait for a men’s champion.

Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer’s intense final in the dark back in 2008 came second, with Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe’s epic 1980 final coming third.

  • Catch up with the countdown as it was revealed

Murray wins in 2013 – what they said

Former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash: “It was one of the greatest moments in tennis history – a Briton winning Wimbledon. The atmosphere was phenomenal.

“Wherever you went, there was this tension, this expectation of “can he do it?” You can’t understand the pressure he had with 77 years of history on his back. It takes one hell of a tough kid to do that.”

BBC commentator Barry Davies: “Andy Murray does thoroughly deserve to win. It has to be a Briton winning it. And he might now do what Fred Perry did, and win it three times.”

Former British number one Sam Smith: “There are not many times when you’re watching something that you want to watch, but you can’t.

“During the final game I had to go in my study and pace about. If I’m feeling that, what must Judy Murray and his family been going through? It was the match you couldn’t bear to watch, and yet you had to.”

The top 10 moments in order

  1. Murray wins his maiden Wimbledon title (2013)
  2. Nadal beats Federer in the dark (2008)
  3. Borg beats McEnroe in final (1980)
  4. Ivanisevic wins on People’s Monday (2001)
  5. Becker wins first Wimbledon aged 17 (1985)
  6. Isner v Mahut in Wimbledon’s longest match (2010)
  7. Ashe beats Connors (1975)
  8. Wade wins first Wimbledon title (1977)
  9. Navratilova wins ninth title (1990)
  10. Serena beats Venus in final (2002)

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Albot Ousts Second Seed Lorenzi In Antalya

  • Posted: Jun 28, 2017

Albot Ousts Second Seed Lorenzi In Antalya

#NextGenATP Altmaier advances on Wednesday

Radu Albot caused the upset of the day on Wednesday at the Antalya Open, storming into the quarter-finals with a 6-3, 6-4 win over second seed Paolo Lorenzi.

The Moldovan scored the lone break in each set to advance in one hour and 21 minutes and reach his ATP World Tour quarter-final. Lorenzi’s struggles on grass continue, with the Italian recording an 11th consecutive loss on the surface.

The surprise win adds to an already wild tournament, with top seed Dominic Thiem falling to Indian qualifier Ramkumar Ramanathan in his opening match on Tuesday.

Next up for Albot is Andreas Seppi, who rallied from a set down to defeat Janko Tipsarevic 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. The contest was a rematch of their 2011 Eastbourne final that also saw Seppi prevail when Tipsarevic retired down 3-5 in the final set. The Italian continues to excel on grass, reaching the Eastbourne final in 2012 (l. Roddick) and Halle final in 2015 (l. Federer). He improves his FedEx ATP Head2Head against Tipsarevic to 2-3, with both wins coming on grass.

Seppi won his lone FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting with Albot this March at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event in Miami.

You May Also Like: Djokovic Gets Grass Campaign Underway In Eastbourne

#NextGenATP German Daniel Altmaier continued his dream run in Antalya with his first ATP World Tour quarter-final, fighting back from the brink of defeat to move past wild card and local favourite Marsel Ilhan 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(5).

Ilhan served for the match at 5-4 in the deciding set, but Altmaier broke and then raced to a 5/1 lead in the tie-break before prevailing in two hours and 28 minutes. The German also needed a final-set tie-break to win his first round against Victor Estrella Burgos.

The 18 year old moved into the main draw as a lucky loser when fellow #NextGenATP player Hyeon Chung withdrew due to a left ankle injury. Altmaier, currently No. 252 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, qualified for his first ATP World Tour main draw last month in Geneva. He also reached the semi-finals of the ATP Challenger Tour event this January in Bangkok.

Awaiting Altmaier in the last eight is either fourth seed David Ferrer or Yuicihi Sugita.

Marach/Pavic Battle Into Semi-finals

In a match with no breaks of serve, second seeds Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic survived a marathon quarter-final with Indian duo Purav Raja and Divij Sharan to advance 7-6(9), 6-7(4), 10-4. Marach/Pavic saved two set points at 6/7 and 8/9 in the first-set tie-break. They continue their grass-court success after reaching the Stuttgart final two weeks ago (l. Murray/Soares).

Awaiting them in the semi-finals are fourth seeds Leander Paes and Adil Shamasdin, who dismissed Carlos Berlocq and Joao Sousa 6-1, 6-2 in 50 minutes.

Top seeds Robert Lindstedt and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi moved into the last four with a 3-6, 7-6(4), 10-7 comeback over Nicholas Monroe and Artem Sitak. Lindstedt/Qureshi will play Jonathan Erlich and Nikola Mektic, who defeated Philipp Petzschner and Alexander Peya 6-3, 7-6(4).

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Wimbledon 2017: Marcus Willis beats compatriot Liam Broady in qualifying

  • Posted: Jun 28, 2017
Wimbledon qualifying
Venue: Bank of England Sports Centre, Roehampton Date: 26-29 June
Coverage: 11:00-17:00 BST on BBC Red Button and 11:00-19:00 BST on Connected TV and online

Marcus Willis is one match from qualifying for Wimbledon for the second year running after beating fellow Briton Liam Broady.

Willis, who eventually lost to Roger Federer in last year’s second round, won 7-6 (7-2) 6-7 (7-2) 6-2.

He goes on to face Ukrainian ninth seed Illya Marchenko for a place in the main draw.

Alex Ward, Jay Clarke and Katy Dunne were other British winners on day three at Roehampton.

Clarke, 18, beat Sweden’s Elias Ymer 6-4 7-6 (7-5) and Ward, 27, pulled off an upset by beating Japan’s Go Soeda, ranked 744 places higher at 111, 6-3 6-1.

It is the first time since 1999 that three British men have reached the final round of Wimbledon qualifying, with prize money of at least £35,000 guaranteed for those who make it through.

  • From tickets to TV coverage – all you need to know about Wimbledon 2017
  • How to follow Wimbledon qualifying on the BBC

In the women’s singles, Dunne, 22, beat Serbia’s Irina Jorovic 7-5 7-5 to reach the second round.

Clarke will play Austria’s Sebastian Ofner, ranked 145 places higher than the Briton at 215, in the third and final round of qualifying, and Ward will play Teymuraz Gabashvili of Russia.

Dunne, ranked 286th, will take on Belgian second seed Alison van Uytvanck in round two.

Harriet Dart, Maia Lumsden, Gabriella Taylor, Freya Christie and Eden Silva were all beaten.

Poor weather has forced organisers to extend the qualifying event to a fifth day on Friday.

‘It’s tough playing a friend’

Willis, 26, came through three rounds of pre-qualifying, three rounds of qualifying and the first-round proper at the All England Club last year, before losing to Federer on Centre Court.

He showed his grass-court skills once more against fellow qualifying wild card Broady, using his variety of pace and spin to good effect as he won a tight match.

Asked what it would mean to qualify, Willis said: “Everything. I’m just trying to keep my head down and prove I should be there again.”

After dominating the tie-break to clinch the first set, Willis – ranked seven places below Broady at 374 – fought back from a break down in the second.

Broady, 23, saved three match points in game 10 and forced a decider only to drop serve early in the final set with a loose game.

With the light fading, Willis broke again to lead 5-2 and converted his fourth match point at 20:06 BST.

“It was an absolute battle,” said Willis.

“I thought Liam played fantastically and it’s a shame someone had to lose. It’s a shame we had to play against each other in qualifying.

“Overall I’m very happy with the win, obviously, but it’s tough playing a friend. You have to put your feelings aside and try and win a tennis match.”

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Sea Air Helping To Re-Charge Djokovic

  • Posted: Jun 28, 2017

Sea Air Helping To Re-Charge Djokovic

Despite wet conditions, Djokovic is happy with grass form

Novak Djokovic believes that his trip to the south coast of England to compete at the Aegon International will have a positive effect on every aspect of his game.

Speaking after his 25th match win of the year on Wednesday, the Serbian star admitted, “I came to Eastbourne because I wanted to experience match play – mentally, physically and tactically – every way you look at it. Because grass is a different surface from any other, I would like to get as much time on the court as possible.

“The movement is very different from clay or hard courts. You’ve got to be very soft, very gentle, but yet very reactive… I’m trying to get as much of the match situations as possible, hear the chair umpire say 30-all, 4-all. Those kind of intense moments.”

You May Also Like: Djokovic Gets Grass Campaign Underway In Eastbourne

Djokovic, the highest-ranked male player to compete in Eastbourne since Marcelo Rios in 1999, has not competed at a grass-court event prior to Wimbledon since the 2010 Aegon Championships.

Four days into his stay at Devonshire Park, the venue of the ATP World Tour 250 tournament, the 30 year old says the fans have made him feel most welcome.

“It’s a very kind of informal tournament in a good way, where you can go around the grounds and kind of interact with people,” said Djokovic. “Sure, people come up to you, but they respect you if you’re going with a purpose to a certain court to observe a match or something like that. That’s what happened the other day. People are really kind of respectful and giving me space for certain time until I finished with my scouting.

“That’s the nice thing about this tournament. I don’t get to experience that. Usually I am, like most of the top players, in the locker rooms or especially in the areas where the players are going to be around. So it’s nice to go around the outside courts and observe, because that’s what we all used to do. It’s good to do that again for a change.”

 Watch Live On TennisTV

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Djokovic has not lifted an ATP World Tour trophy since the first week of the season at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open (d. Murray) in January. With Wimbledon set to begin on 3 July, the Serbian admitted that it’s “good to not be one of the top favourites.”

“I was very fortunate and privileged to have so much success in the past eight, nine years, and kind of enter most of the tournaments as one of the biggest favourites to win it.

“It is ‘liberating’ a bit. It releases a bit of the pressure. It’s always there. I mean, you still feel it. It’s part of who I am, what I do. And what I have achieved so far has added to those expectations from the people around.

“I try to lower those expectations myself, because I really want to be as much as I can, at this stage of my life and career, in the moment and try to focus only on what comes up next. That doesn’t mean that I don’t want to win trophies and so forth. Of course I do, that’s why I’m playing professional tennis. But it’s just that I need to take things a bit slower and try and re-calibrate so I can get to the level where I want to get.

Djokovic, currently No. 4 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, has been named as second seed for The Championships at Wimbledon, where he is a three-time former champion.

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Stars Make The Most Of Antalya And Eastbourne

  • Posted: Jun 28, 2017

Stars Make The Most Of Antalya And Eastbourne

It hasn’t been all about tennis for players this week. ATPWorldTour.com provides a recap of the highlights.

Follow all the latest off-court action on MyATP! Download the app for iPhone or Android and visit MyATP.com 

Antalya Open – Antalya, Turkey

Dominic Thiem and Marsel Ilhan visited the Aspendos ampitheatre and played a game of mini tennis.

Borna Coric, David Ferrer, Anil Yuksel and Ilhan were the lucky players to participate in the draw ceremony. 

Fernando Verdasco, Radu Albot and #NextGenATP German Daniel Altmaier tried their hand at jet skiing.

You May Also Like: Djokovic Ready To Switch It Up In Eastbourne

Aegon International – Eastbourne, U.K.

Novak Djokovic, John Isner, Gael Monfils, Kyle Edmund and Steve Johnson took part in Media Day.

Ryan Harrison visited Willingdon Community School to meet with local children.

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Djokovic Gets Grass Campaign Underway In Eastbourne

  • Posted: Jun 28, 2017

Djokovic Gets Grass Campaign Underway In Eastbourne

Serbian star hoping to hit peak form on English south coast

Novak Djokovic recorded his 25th match win of the season on Wednesday in overcast conditions at the Aegon International in Eastbourne.

Having played only 13 points due to rain on Tuesday, Djokovic returned to Devonshire Park, venue of the ATP World Tour 250 tournament, to complete a 6-4, 6-3 victory over qualifier Vasek Pospisil in 85 minutes.

“I’m glad that I came here to Eastbourne,” said Djokovic. “I have had a great couple of days of training with good players, different styles of game. Yesterday, we obviously started the match and it wasn’t really enjoyable to see the rain falling all day.

“But today we kind of played a full match, so I’m glad for that. I felt good on the court, considering it was my first grass-court match. I played against an opponent that has a really good game for grass. He serves well, comes to the net and has good variety. It was a really, really solid win. I’m happy with it.”

The 30-year-old Djokovic, who is competing at this first grass-court tournament prior to Wimbledon since the 2010 Aegon Championships, will now meet American Donald Young in the quarter-finals.

Young managed to convert three of his 12 break point opportunities in a 6-4, 7-5 win over his #NextGenATP compatriot Jared Donaldson. Djokovic will now meet Young for the first time since the 2006 US Open.

You May Also Like: Sea Air Helping To Re-Charge Djokovic

 Watch Live On TennisTV

 Watch Full Match Replays

Five first-round matches and two doubles matches were completed on Wednesday before the heavens opened to further delay play at the Aegon International. Play was suspended at Devonshire Park at 4:55 p.m. local time, with five singles matches on court.

Earlier in the day, #NextGenATP Russian Daniil Medvedev recorded his sixth grass-court match win of the year as he defeated fifth seed Sam Querrey 6-3, 7-5. Medvedev, who is currently No. 5 in the Emirates ATP Race To Milan for a spot at November’s Next Gen ATP Finals, struck nine aces and broke serve on three occasions to beat the 2015 finalist in 74 minutes.

View Emirates ATP Race To Milan 

American Frances Tiafoe, 19, hit 18 aces and came close to beating seventh seed Richard Gasquet, a winner of two grass-court trophies, mid-afternoon. Gasquet fought back from a set and 4-5 deficit to record a 5-7, 7-6(4), 6-3 victory in two hours and 24 minutes.

Sixth seed Mischa Zverev led Ryan Harrison by a set and 4-2, but then had to fight off six set points before recording a 6-4, 7-6(9) victory. Harrison led 6/2 in the tie-break, then held two further set point opportunities at 7/6 and 9/8 before Zverev clinched his 17th match win of the year in 89 minutes.

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Wimbledon 2017 Seeds Announced

  • Posted: Jun 28, 2017

Wimbledon 2017 Seeds Announced

Seeds announced for the grass-court major

The All England Lawn Tennis Club committee has announced the 32 singles seeds and 16 doubles seeds for The Championships at Wimbledon, which begins on Monday, 3 July.

Two-time champion Andy Murray, three-time former titlist Novak Djokovic and seven-time winner Roger Federer are among the top singles seeds.

You May Also Like: Murray Claims Second Wimbledon Crown

Since 2002, The Championships has employed a unique seeding system, where they take into account previous results over a two-year period on grass courts.

• Take the Emirates ATP Ranking points on 20 June 2016
• Add 100 per cent of the points earned for all grass court tournaments in the past 12 months
• Add 75 per cent of the points earned for the best grass court tournament in the 12 months before that

The singles main draw ceremony takes place on Friday.

Singles Seeds
1 Andy Murray (GBR)
2 Novak Djokovic (SRB)
3 Roger Federer (SUI)
4 Rafael Nadal (ESP)
5 Stan Wawrinka (SUI)
6 Milos Raonic (CAN)
7 Marin Cilic (CRO)
8 Dominic Thiem (AUT)
9 Kei Nishikori (JPN)
10 Alexander Zverev (GER)
11 Tomas Berdych (CZE)
12 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA)
13 Grigor Dimitrov (BUL)
14 Lucas Pouille (FRA)
15 Gael Monfils (FRA)
16 Gilles Muller (LUX)
17 Jack Sock (USA)
18 Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP)
19 Feliciano Lopez (ESP)
20 Nick Kyrgios (AUS)
21 Ivo Karlovic (CRO)
22 Richard Gasquet (FRA)
23 John Isner (USA)
24 Sam Querrey (USA)
25 Albert Ramos-Vinolas (ESP)
26 Steve Johnson (USA)
27 Pablo Cuevas (URU)
28 Mischa Zverev (GER)
29 Fabio Fognini (ITA)
30 Juan Martin del Potro (ARG)
31 Karen Khachanov (RUS)
32 Paolo Lorenzi (ITA)

Doubles Seeds
1 Henri Kontinen (FIN) / John Peers (AUS)
2 Pierre-Hugues Herbert (FRA) / Nicolas Mahut (FRA)
3 Jamie Murray (GBR) / Bruno Soares (BRA)
4 Lukasz Kubot (POL) / Marcelo Melo (BRA)
5 Bob Bryan (USA) / Mike Bryan (USA)
6 Ivan Dodig (CRO) / Marcel Granollers (ESP)
7 Raven Klaasen (RSA) / Rajeev Ram (USA)
8 Rohan Bopanna (IND) / Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA)
9 Jean-Julien Rojer (NED) / Horia Tecau (ROU)
10 Ryan Harrison (USA) / Michael Venus (NZL)
11 Feliciano Lopez (ESP) / Marc Lopez (ESP)
12 Juan Sebastian Cabal (COL) / Robert Farah (COL)
13 Fabrice Martin (FRA) / Daniel Nestor (CAN)
14 Florin Mergea (ROU) / Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK)
15 Julio Peralta (CHI) / Horacio Zeballos (ARG)
16 Oliver Marach (AUT) / Mate Pavic (CRO)

Moet and Chandon off-court news 

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World Cup of Tennis: Geneva is preferred venue for event in 2018

  • Posted: Jun 28, 2017

Geneva has been chosen by the International Tennis Federation as the preferred venue for the first World Cup of Tennis in 2018.

The combined event will include the finals of the Davis Cup and Fed Cup.

The hard court event would be held at the Palexpo convention centre for three years from November 2018.

“Change is needed to ensure that we maximise the full potential of these iconic and historic competitions,” said ITF president David Haggerty.

Geneva was chosen by the ITF board at its meeting in Frankfurt from a shortlist of six that also included Copenhagen (Denmark), Miami (USA), Istanbul (Turkey), Turin (Italy), and Wuhan (China).

The ITF AGM will be asked to approve the full reform package at its meeting in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, in August 2017.

It is proposed initially that the season-ending event will run for three years and could also include the semi-finals of the Fed Cup, meaning the competition would expand from eight teams to 16.

“The creation of the World Cup of Tennis finals is at the heart of a series of reforms that represent the most significant changes in the history of Davis Cup and Fed Cup,” added Haggerty.

“We’ve consulted widely and listened carefully, and believe we will deliver an exceptional new event for fans, players and nations.”

Argentina are the Davis Cup holders and the Czech Republic won the Fed Cup in 2016.

Opposition to World Cup plans

The plans have been greeted with dismay by some tennis players, including Jamie Murray’s Brazilian doubles partner Bruno Soares and Australian world number 187 Sam Groth.

Soares tweeted that the “ITF itself is slowly killing the competition”, while Groth said the ITF “had lost the plot”.

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