Tennis News

Faced with a potential collision with her younger sister in the next few rounds, Venus Williams advanced to the second round of the Wimbledon Championships, where she will come up against Yulia Putintseva to determine who will be one match away from the second week of the Championships. This is just the second time that these two competitors will cross paths on the professional tour, with Williams leading the head-to-head series 1-0.

Seeded 16th at this year’s event, Venus Williams produced one of the most dominant matches during the opening day of matches, which ended with a double bagel finish against fellow American Madison Brengle. She hit 29 winners and 13 unforced errors to close out the match 6-0, 6-0 in under an hour.

“She’s had a great last 52 weeks. She’s had really great results in the majors. Playing a higher-ranked player in the first round is a challenge, but everything worked out for me,” Williams said at the post-match press conference following her win on Monday. “I don’t think she played badly. I was just able to convert on the important points.”

Williams’ next opponent, Yulia Putintseva also finished her match in straight sets, even if they were much more competitive sets. She defeated Erakovic 7-6, 7-5 in a match that saw her fire five aces, 31 inners and 26 unforced errors to close out the contest in two hours and 13 minutes.

This marks just the second time that Williams and Putintseva will cross paths on the professional tour, with Williams leading the head-to-head series 1-0. Given her remarkably dominant showing in her firs match on court, it would be difficult to envision Williams losing this second encounter to a lower ranked player. However, Williams has shown inconsistency over the years so it isn’t out of the realm of possibility that she is upset in the second round.

One of the Wimbledon Championships’ favourite sons, Roger Federer, will return to the lush grass courts at SW19 in search for his eighth title at the event, as well as his 18th Grand Slam title overall. His first match-up will be against Damir Dzumhur, whom faced once previously last month at the French Open. Federer leads the head-to-head series 1-0.

A couple of weeks ago, Federer lifted his latest title on the grass courts in Halle following a straight sets win against Andreas Seppi. He beat the Italian 7-6,6-4 in an encounter that lasted an hour and 48 minutes. It was the eighth time that he was announced champion at the Gerry Weber Open, which puts him alongside Rafael Nadal and Guillermo Vilas. It was his 86th title on the tour overall and offered him the necessary momentum ahead of the Wimbledon Championships.

“2013 was difficult, 2014 was better and now 2015 after this week is even better and I hope I can keep it up. I think one big secret on grass is when to hit which shot and playing the score the right way. You might be playing perfect but then in one moment you take a bad decision and grass makes you pay for it all. So, this week has been great if I look at the whole thing. I don’t think I got broken anymore the last four matches I played. The first match was extremely close but I won all the tie-breaks this week, which gives obviously big confidence knowing that in the crucial moments my game was right there.”

In a surprising decision, Damir Dzumhur lost his third round match-up to Federer at the French Open, and instead of quickly making the transition to clay, he decided to play a clay court Challengers event in Moscow, which he lost in the quarter-final stage. He now heads into his second match with the legend with no match time on grass under his belt.

This marks the first time that these two competitors will cross paths on the professional circuit and should be a match that Federer wins in straight sets. Given that he has barely ever watched Dzumhur play tennis, this could be competitive affair until Federer finds his rhythm and analyzes his opponent’s game.

Former world No. 1 Rafael Nadal will begin his Wimbledon campaign on Tuesday afternoon at the All England Club when he meets Thomaz Bellucci in the opening round. This marks the fifth time that these two competitors will meet on the professional tour, with Nadal holding an undefeated 4-0 head to head record against the Brazilian.

After losing just his second match ever at the French Open this year to be denied a 10th title at Roland Garros, Nadal fought valiantly all week in his first grass court tournament of the season Stuttgart to claim the title following a straight sets victory against Victor Troicki. He won the match 7-6(3), 6-3 to earn his first title on grass since the 2010 Wimbledon Championships. However, he followed that up with a opening round loss to Alexandr Dolgopolov at the Aegon Championships, which is likely why he is keen to get a few more matches in before Wimbledon, where he will be seeeded 10th this season.

‘It is more difficult not being seeded top four,’ he said in an interview. ‘I am seed 10 because I didn’t play well enough and I was out injured for six months last year. I am where I deserve to be and I hoped to be in a higher position back here. I am going to work for that, but what gonna happen, gonna happen. I need to do it my way.”

Nadal will begin his campaign against Thomaz Bellucci, who only played one match on grass so far this season and that was a loss to Alexander Zverev at Nottingham. His best performance to date this season was at Geneva, where he won the clay court tournament.

This marks the fifth time that these two competitors will meet on the professional tour, with Nadal leading the series 4-0. All three of their previous encounters took place in Grand Slam events, except for their latest meeting, which took place in Rio. Nadal will likely hold the advantage this time around but all eyes will be on him to see if he will be ready for the fortnight ahead.

After a terrible start to her season, Agnieszka Radwanska has started to look like her old self again after kickstarting her grass court campaign. Now, she will look to remain successful as she begins her quest at the 2015 edition of the Wimbledon Championships. The Polish star’s first match at the tournament will come against Lucie Hradecka, who holds a 1-0 record against her on the professional tour.

It has been a turbulent few months for Agnieszka Radwanska. The Polish No. 1 has been on a disappointing trend of surprise losses and upsets that were anything but normal from one of the craftiest players on the tour. Then, following a slew of shocking losses in her last few tournaments, Agnieszka Radwanska has announced her split with tennis legend Martina Navratilova. Following a weak display in her clay court season, Radwanska changed things round for grass, where she reached the semi-final in Nottingham and the final of the Eastbourne tournament, where she lost to Belinda Bencic. She did, however, earn wins against the likes of Sloane Stephens, Pironkova and Karolina Pliskova.

“I think I had a lot of good matches, Nottingham and here, and I think that’s the main thing going into a Grand Slam,” she said. “I think I did the best preparation I could before Wimbledon, and I played some really good tennis these last few weeks, so now we’ll just wait and see what happens in London.”

Radwanska will come up against Lucie Hradecka, who lost her opening match at Nottingham to Monica Puig before reaching the second round in Birmingham. There, she lost to Barbora Strycova.

This marks just the second time that Radwanska and Hradecka will meet on the professional tour and the first time since 2006. Given Radwanksa’s promising display on grass so far this season, it is likely that she will be able to advance to the following stage of the tournament.

Following an extended break from the tour following the French Open, Petra Kvitova is back in form on tour and will look to capitalize on the opportunity, as she begins her title defense at the All England Tennis Club on Tuesday. The Czech star will begin her campaign against Kiki Bertens, whom she has never faced previously on the professional tour.

The world No. 2 has been absent from the tour since losing in the fourth round of the French Open to Timea Bacsinszky. It was not planned that strategically, as Kvitova got sick and was unable to prepare by taking part in pre-Wimbledon tournaments. She was forced to withdraw from Eastbourne last week and will now have to play the prestigious grass court Grand Slam without any grass court preparation.

“The preparation, because I got sick, wasn’t perfect,” she said. “But I’m trying to find good form. I hope on Tuesday I will be ready 100% but of course I missed a few days of practice. The pressure, the nerves are going to be there for sure, doesn’t matter whether I was sick or not. Still, when I step on the court on Tuesday it will be the same feelings. It will be very tough and nervous.”

“I think a lot of athletes want to have a break but they didn’t do it,” she said. “But I feel much better than before. I’m really happy to be back on the court to play tennis, to really do what I love. That’s the important thing. I recharged some batteries, for sure. I am really glad I am able to compete. I think it was a really tough decision for me to miss the two big tournaments during March. I’m glad that I did it. I just felt exhausted and tired from everything, so that’s why.”

Kvitova will come up against Kiki Bertens, who won three matches at S-Hertogenbosch before she lost to Camila Giorgi afterwards.

This marks the first time that these two competitors will meet on the professional tour and should be a match that favours the defending champion. Kvitova is one of the most beautiful players to watch when she is on form and grass has always been one of those places where she shines.

Back in 2013, Laura Robson was the rising star on the tour – the player that many expected to be one to watch out for over the coming decade. She shone brightly as the top female talent in Great Britain but had that all come crashing down when she suffered a wrist injury early in 2014, which caused a professional collapse and forced her to take well over a year on the sidelines. Now that she has returned to the tour, she will begin her Wimbledon campaign against Evgeniya Rodina, whom she has never faced previously on the professional tour.

The former British No. 1 was forced onto the sidelines in January with a left wrist injury and watched her hard work and ranking deteriorate whilst other competitors rose to prominence over the year. Having not played tennis since her first round loss to Kirsten Flipkens in the opening round of the Australian Open, Robson returned to court last week at the Eastbourne qualifying tournament, where she lost to one of the tour’s rising competitors Daria Gavrilova.

Robson reached a career-high of No. 27 on the tour and reached the fourth round of Wimbledon Championships, as well as the third rounds of the Australian Open the French Open and the U.S. Open. However, since her absence from the tour, she has dropped from No. 27 to No. 916.

“I know how well I’ve played and practiced. But obviously it doesn’t always translate to matches, as you must know. So my coach, my trainer, we’re all very patient. If I don’t play well, then it’s not the end of the world, because we all learn in tennis that there’s always next week, there’s always going to be another week for me, because I’m injury‑free, I think that’s the main thing. If it doesn’t work out after this tournament, I’m going to go play some challengers in America. It’s going to take a while. But, yeah, patience.”

World No. 101 Evgeniya Rodina has only played one match on grass so far this season, which was a loss to Alison Yan Uytvanck in the opening round of s-Hertogenbosch.

This marks the first time that Robson and Rodina will meet on the professional tour and is a puzzling match to determine the outcome for given Robson’s injury and gradual comeback.

Following a terrible streak of tournaments in 2015, all eyes will be on 2014 Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard as she attempts to defend her runner-up points from her finish in the final last season. She will begin her week at the All England Club against Ying-Ying Duan, whom she has never faced previously on the professional tour.

Following a poor clay court run, Bouchard began her grass court campaign at s-Hertogenbosch, where she was the top seed at the tournament. Bouchard played three sets against Yaroslava Shvedova and was close to securing the victory before she wilted away to allow a comeback from the No. 76 Kazakhstan native. Bouchard dropped the opening set, then rebounded emphatically in the second frame and even led 4-1 in the deciding set before she lost the next five consecutive games and, evidently, the match. She then lost her opening match in Birmingham to Kristina Mladenovic in three sets and managed to beat Alison Riske at Eastbourne before losing to rising star and eventual champion Belinda Bencic. She has now lost 10 of her last 12 matches on the tour.

“Its actually not been a fun kind of routine. Go to a tournament, prepare for 3-4 days, lose your match, take a day off. Go to the next tournament, prepare for 3-4 days, lose your match. Kind of a vicious cycle. It’s not been fun. I’m not sure I’ve ever experienced anything as tough as this,” she said. “I feel like when things are not going well you tend to think more, and it gives you more time to think because you’re not going deep in the draws. … I want to get that winning routine back. When you don’t win matches for a while, you feel it’s almost more normal to lose. I don’t want that mentality.”

Bouchard will come up against Ying-Ying Duan, who secured her spot in the Wimbledon main draw following a tough qualification draw.

This marks the first time that Bouchard and Duan will meet on the professional tour and could make for an intriguing three-setter depending on Bouahard’s form. She usually shines brightest at the Grand Slam tournaments, yet it will be interesting to see if she can pick herself back up this time around.

“It’s about keeping up the traditions – grass courts and white tennis clothing, we could sell all the tickets online but doing that would take away a lot of the charm. People are determined to watch Lleyton Hewitt playing on the first Tuesday and they queue to get in.” – The words of All England Lawn Tennis Club chairman Philip Brook in a recent Telegraph article.

The Queue is almost mythical these days and seen as part of the Wimbledon experience but in 2015 there is no reason for it to still exist unless you want to remain stuck in the past, as clearly Wimbledon do. Queuing for tickets to sporting, music or any other events is an outdated process and should be only used if there are unsold tickets.

One of the many defences for the queue is that it allows ANYONE to have a chance of getting the 500 tickets available on each of the three main show courts but in reality you still have a major advantage if you are based in London, young, healthy and not a parent. The excellent @ViewFromTheQ (a must follow if you decide to brave The Queue) shows just how inconvenient queuing would be for anyone who isn’t in any of these categories. Monday’s queue hit 400 by 8am Sunday, over 1000 by 6pm and around 1400 by 10:30pm. Overnight camping for the elderly, disabled or with children is not going to be an enjoyable or comfortable thing for most in these categories.

It’s argued that the mark-up on tickets were they sold online would be bigger but given the extra expenses associated with needing to spend a day and a half in a field – be it camping equipment, prior hotels – there would appear to be very little difference overall.

If you do decide to brave the queue – well you best prepare to be sleep deprived or uncomfortably hot for most of the time. Temperatures are predicted in the high 30s throughout this week which is probably great once you are slightly covered by one of the courts but waiting around far less so. My one experience (and my last, until I have tickets in my hand way before the tournament is due to begin) was far from pleasant due to lack of sleep and hayfever and this was only for a ground pass!

Having to queue for a ground pass still sees you needing to turn up 2-3 hours before at the latest and possibly early on busy days. Is there any other event in the world where you need to queue up that long just to get in? Imagine if you could just purchase your tickets online like any other event you wish to attend – it would be far more pleasant. It’s just a shame that you can’t get that charming feeling of standing in a field all night or morning from ordering online through your laptop or PC.

It’s hard to see change coming any time soon though. After all, this is a tournament that got very upset when a seven time champion dared to show a bit of orange on the soles of his shoes. The only real valid argument for The Queue staying in this day and age is tradition – often the last defence for keeping things that are clearly outdated.

For the final time in his professional career, former Wimbledon champion Lleyton Hewitt will step out onto the lush grass courts of the All England Tennis Club to begin his campaign at the Grand Slam event. The Australian former No. 1 will begin his quest against Jarkko Nieminen, who is certainly not an opponent to take lightly. Hewitt leads the head-to-head series 5-0 yet has not met Jarkko since 2012. This will also be their first ever meeting on grass.

Currently on a five-match losing streak, Lleyton Hewitt has played selective tournaments this season. Following his loss at the Australian Open, he suffered opening round losses in Miami, Houston and then at the Topshelf Open. Most recently, Hewitt played a solid match against South Africa’s Kevin Anderson, and while he was a few points away from a straight sets victory, Anderson rallied back to deny Hewitt entry into the second round of his final Aegon Championships.

Now, Hewitt will set his sights on his Finnish first round opponent and a potential showdown against Novak Djokovic in the second round.

“Obviously Novak’s waiting in the second round. Assuming he was to get through, I’d love nothing more than to go out and have a crack at him,” Hewitt said. “But I’m certainly not looking past Nieminen. He’s a tough competitor, really tough competitor. He always gives 100 per cent. It’s going to be a tough match and, even though I’ve had the edge on him in head-to-head matches, we’ve had some battles in the past and I’m sure Monday will be no different.”

Following a second round exit from the French Open, Jarkko Nieminen opened up his grass courts with a first round exit in ‘S-Hertogenbosch and Halle. He will now look to upset Hewitt and close out the final chapter in the Australian’s Wimbledon tale.

This marks the sixth time that Hewitt and Nieminen will meet on the professional tour and the first time ever on grass. Hewitt leads the head-to-head series 5-0 and will look to maintain that undefeated streak en route to the second round of the prestigious event.