Tennis News

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.

After taking some time off to spend a short few weeks with his growing family, world No. 1 Novak Djokovic is set officially begin his grass court season at SW19, where he will contest a match-up against Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber for the eighth time on the professional tour. The Serb leads the Head to Head with 6-1, with five straight victories in their most recent outings.

The last time Djokovic stepped on court to take part in a professional match was at the final of the 2015 French Open, where he lost to Stan Wawrinka in four sets to deny himself a career Grand Slam. Since then, he has refrained from competing in any ATP World Tour events but did find time to get some practice at The Boodies exhibition event at Stoke Park.

“I needed a little bit of time to regroup, to recharge my batteries, stay with the family, the little one and come here to London preparing for the biggest event in the world in our sport,” the 28-year-old said this week at the Boodles exhibition event.

Unlike his upcoming opponent, Kohlschreiber is coming off a couple of weeks on grass already, as he performed at the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart, where he lost to Gael Monfils in the quarter-final stage of the tournament and later in Halle, where he lost to eight-time champion Roger Federer in the opening round. He came quite close to winning the match and picking up his first ever win against the 17-time Grand Slam champion.

This marks the eighth time that these two competitors will meet on the professional tour, with Djokovic leading the series 6-1. Djokovic is 5-0 on hard court matches and 2-1 on clay against t the German, so this is going to be their first ever grass court meeting. Given that Djokovic is one of the overwhelming favourites of the tournament, this should be a straightforward match for the Serb, even though Kohlscheriber is a dangerous threat when in form.

World No. 1 Serena Williams is still riding high from her second Grand Slam title of the season at the French Open, and 20th overall. With rumblings of her being able to complete the calendar Slam this season, all eyes will be on Williams as she steps out on the grass courts for the first time this season to take on Russia’s Margarita Gasparyan, whom she has never faced previously on the professional tour.

Situated in the same half of the draw as Maria Sharapova and her sister Venus Williams, Serena will attempt to win her third Grand Slam title of the season when she begins her fortnight at SW19. She overcame illness last month en route to the French Open title and was yet to step out on court for a match time on grass. However, she is completely aware that she is on the hunt for a calendar slam, something that has not been achieved in the Open Era.

“Personally, uhm, it doesn’t make it feel any different, which I think is a good thing ’cause I don’t feel any pressure to win all four. I’ve been saying that, but I really don’t feel that pressure. Maybe if I would happen to win here, then maybe I might start feeling it after that. Ultimately, I’m taking it one day at a time and I’m not thinking that far.”

Williams will come up against world No. 113 Margarita Gasparyan, who will be a remarkably large underdog against Williams as she attempts to usurp the dominant champion.

This marks the first time that these two competitors will cross paths on the professional tour, with Williams holding the undoubted advantage with the oddsmakers. While it is all too possible that Williams struggles a bit during the match, it would be utterly shocking to see her suffer a defeat this early in the tournament.

Maria Sharapova, once a 17-year-old underdog who conquered the All England Tennis Club to everyone’s surprise, will return to the Championships once again to attempt to relive that childhood glory 11 years ago. The Russian superstar will begin her campaign against Great Britain’s Johanna Konta, whom she has never faced previously on the professional tour.

The world No. 4 has not stepped out on court for a professional match since her fourth round loss o Lucie Safarova at the French Open last month. While she hoped to get some match time under her belt ahead of the fortnight on grass, it was an not possible due to her tight schedule.

“I was hoping I could play a warm up tournament leading up to this. But due to the circumstances, the way I was feeling, actually I had to go back home and do some tests, run through all that. It took a little while for me to really refresh and recover and, yeah, give myself just a chance to feel good again and get back to work.

“I planned on going to Florida. But then I needed to do a few things back in California for my health. Then just came here as soon as I got the green light to start the training. It’s been a really good 10 days. To finally have that energy, I think that’s quite important as an athlete. But, yeah, despite not playing an event, I’ve played a few practice matches, played a practice match in Eastbourne. It’s been going well so far.”

Sharapova will come up against Johanna Konta, who reached the quarter-final stage of Eastbourne last week. Now she will begin her campaign at the Championships with a contest on Centre Court against the 2004 champion.

This is set to be the first time that Sharapova and Konta meet on the professional tour and should be an easygoing match for the vastly more experienced Russian. However, an upset here would sent the English crowd into a frenzy, as it would undoubtedly be a huge upset so early in the tournament.

Japanese No. 1 Kei Nishikori is set to begin his campaign at the All England Club and where he will be faced with the task of beating Italy’s Simone Bolelli, whom he has faced once previously on the professional tour. Their sole meeting took place at last year’s Wimbledon Championships, even though their last one took place in the third round of that event. It will be interesting to see if this year’s contest is as competitive as the previous one, as Nishikori leads the head-to-head series 1-0 after fending off a legitimate five-set threat from Bolelli.

Following a quarter-final showing in Paris at the French Open, all looked well for Nishikori as he played in Halle to prepare himself for the grass court Slam.

“I don’t feel any pressure from Japan, you know, because I live in the United States,” he told a news conference at the All England Club on Saturday. “In the match, I just try to focus what I have to do. I try not to think too much about outside things. I mean, I feel pressure sometimes, but I think I’m handling really well.”

Nishikori will come up against Simone Bolelli, who has had ample preparation on grass ahead of the Championships. Bolelli reached the first round of the Aegon Championships following two qualifying matches and then had an even better week thereafter when he reached the quarter-final round in Nottingham, where he lost to Marcos Baghdatis.

This marks the second time these two competitors will cross paths on the professional tour and could make for an interesting contest if Bolelli can once again find the magic he possessed during their last meeting. Even if he does come in form, Nishikori is a ruthless competitor who had proven to be worthy of his ranking in the upper echelon of the men’s game. The truth is that the Japanese star’s injury could also play a factor in their latest encounter, which does not bode well for his chances of a deep run at this year’s event, even if he gets past the durable Bolelli.