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Vesely Upsets Thiem At Wimbledon

  • Posted: Jul 01, 2016

Vesely Upsets Thiem At Wimbledon

Jun302016

Gasquet, Ramos-Vinolas also advance on Thursday

Jiri Vesely caused the biggest upset of The Championships on Thursday by recording only the second Top 10 win of his career (2-9 record).

Vesely, currently No. 64 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, held his nerve to edge past No. 8-ranked Dominic Thiem 7-6(4), 7-6(5), 7-6(3) in two hours and 45 minutes on Court No. 1 for a place in the third round. Vesely goes on to face No. 31 seed Joao Sousa, who beat American Dennis Novikov 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in just under two hours.

Vesely failed to convert one set point opportunity on Thiem’s serve at 6-5 in the first set, but won three straight points from 4/4 in the tie-break. The Czech calmly took a 3/0 lead in the second set tie-break and won four of the first five points in the third tie-break of the pair’s third FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting.

“I had a lot of confidence in the most important moments,” said Vesely. “In the tight moments I was more comfortable, I served well and overall I think I played a very good match.”

Thiem, the ATP World Tour match wins leader this year with a 48-13 record, has won four titles over the past six months. Vesely, also 22, is now 7-7 lifetime on grass courts.

Seventh seed Richard Gasquet battled his way past Marcel Granollers 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-1 on Thursday at The Championships. The 2007 and 2015 semi-finalist hit 41 winners and converted six of his 17 break point opportunities for a place in the third round.

Gasquet improved to 27-10 at the All England Club for sole ownership of sixth place for most match wins by a Frenchman.

MOST WIMBLEDON MATCH WINS BY FRENCHMEN

Player
 Match Record
Best Wimbledon Result
1) Jean Borotra
 55-10
Champion – 1924, 1926
2) Henri Cochet
 43-8
Champion – 1927, 1929
3) Jacques Brugnon
 37-19
SF – 1926
4) Christian Boussus
 30-13
SF – 1928
5) Rene Lacoste
 28-4
Champion – 1925, 1928
6) Richard Gasquet
 27-10
SF – 2007, 2015
7) Henri Leconte
 26-13
QF – 1985, 1987

He will next face Albert Ramos-Vinolas, who needed almost three hours to battle past No. 25 seed Viktor Troicki 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 2-6, 6-3. The Spaniard saved seven of the 10 break points he faced and survived 64 winners from Troicki.

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Murray/Soares Win Opener At Wimbledon

  • Posted: Jul 01, 2016

Murray/Soares Win Opener At Wimbledon

Jun302016

Defending champs upset

Third seeds Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares couldn’t convert a match point in the second-set tiebreak against Jonathan Erlich and Colin Fleming, but rebounded to move into the second round of Wimbledon 6-2, 6-7(9), 6-3 on Thursday. Murray reached the Wimbledon final last year with John Peers. Next up for them is the winner of the match between Federico Delbonis/Diego Schwartzman and wild cards Kyle Edmund/James Ward.

2013 Wimbledon doubles champion Jonathan Marray and partner Adil Shamasdin scored the upset of the tournament by knocking out defending champions and fourth seeds Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau in the opening round 6-2, 7-6(3). The unseeded duo swept the final five points of the second set tie-break to take the match. They will now play Dustin Brown and Jan-Lennard Struff, who defeated Andres Molteni and Julio Peralta, 6-4, 6-4.

Second seeds and three-time champions Bob and Mike Bryan narrowly avoided a similar upset by defeating Inigo Cervantes and Paolo Lorenzi, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. The Bryans grabbed the lone break of serve in the final set at 3-3. Next up for them is the winner of the match between Malek Jaziri/Lukas Rosol and wild cards Daniel Evans/Lloyd Glasspool.

Twelfth seeds Treat Huey and Max Mirnyi didn’t drop serve in defeating Pablo Carreno Busta and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, 6-3, 7-6(5). They will now play Marcelo Demoliner and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi, who defeated Julian Knowle and Artem Sitak, 7-6(5), 6-3.

Thirteenth seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah defeated Brian Baker and Marcus Daniell, 3-6, 7-6(2), 6-3. They’ll next play the winner between Leonardo Mayer/Joao Sousa and Sam Groth/Robert Lindstedt.

All first-round doubles matches were shortened to a best-of-three format due to inclement weather earlier this week. Matches will be best-of-five from the second-round on.

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Wimbledon 2016: Britain's Dan Evans set for Roger Federer encounter

  • Posted: Jul 01, 2016
Wimbledon on the BBC
Venue: All England Club Dates: 27 June – 10 July
Live: Coverage across BBC TV, BBC Radio and BBC Sport website with further coverage on Red Button, Connected TVs and app. Click for more details

Great Britain’s Dan Evans meets seven-times champion Roger Federer in the third round at Wimbledon on Friday.

The 26-year-old follows in the footsteps of compatriot Marcus Willis in meeting the Swiss on Centre Court.

British qualifier Willis, ranked 772 in the world, lost 6-0 6-3 6-4 to Federer on Wednesday.

World number one Serena Williams is second on Centre Court as the defending champion faces fellow American Christina McHale.

In the men’s draw, Novak Djokovic will be on Court One as the Serb continues his bid to defend his Wimbledon title against American Sam Querrey.

  • Order of play – who is in action when?
Centre Court order of play (13:00 BST start)
Juan Martin del Potro (Arg) v [4] Stanislas Wawrinka (Swi)
[1] Serena Williams (US) v Christina McHale (US)
[3] Roger Federer (Swi) v Dan Evans (Gbr)

Can Evans trouble Federer?

Evans has enjoyed a remarkable run in the past year, climbing more than 650 places up the world rankings since dropping to 772nd in May 2015.

Questions were raised about the Birmingham player’s commitment to the sport when he did not turn up to a Futures event, while he has also struggled with a knee injury.

But he has rediscovered his fitness and form in the past 12 months, helping Great Britain win the Davis Cup and claiming three ATP Challenger titles.

He was rewarded with his first Wimbledon win against Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff, before setting up the meeting with Federer by beating 30th seed Alexandr Dolgopolov on Thursday.

“(Federer’s) not a normal guy obviously, but he’s another tennis player,” said Evans.

“I just have to prepare myself and try and put that to the back of my head – that it’s Roger I’m playing – go out and give it my best.”

“Dan will go out there and try to make life as difficult as possible for Roger,” said British former Wimbledon semi-finalist Tim Henman.

“He needs to serve well, use that good sliced backhand and try and dictate when he gets the chance. Obviously that’s not easy against Federer.”

Venus Williams swiftly back in action

Venus Williams makes a swift return to action as the former world number one plays Russian Daria Kasatkina on Court One.

Williams overcame Greek qualifier Maria Sakkari 7-5 4-6 6-3 in the second round on Thursday.

However, the five-times Wimbledon champion appeared to be disappointed at having to play on Court 18 – the smallest show court at the All England Club.

“I think if players have to play outside (on the outside courts), all players should have to play outside,” said Williams.

“There shouldn’t be exceptions or any inequality to it.”

Court One order of play (13:00 BST start)
[8] Venus Williams (US) v Daria Kasatkina (Rus)
[1] Novak Djokovic (Ser) v Sam Querrey (US)
[27] Jack Sock (US) v [6] Milos Raonic (Can)

Here come the entertainers

Rain on Wednesday resulted in a hefty backlog of matches, meaning the remaining second-round encounters will be completed on Friday.

Two of the game’s entertainers, Nick Kyrgios and Dustin Brown, meet in a battle for a place in the third round.

The pair are close friends, having played together for the Singapore Slammers in last year’s International Premier Tennis League.

Also playing their second-round match are Stan Wawrinka and Juan Martin del Potro.

Former US Open champion Del Potro is making his return to Grand Slam action at Wimbledon after battling back from three wrist operations that almost led to him retiring from tennis.

“I was close to quitting at the end of last year but now is completely different,” said the Argentine.

“I’m expecting to be better in the future, but for this year my biggest challenge is to finish healthy and make a good preparation for next year.”

Court Two order of play (11:00 BST start)
[15] Nick Kyrgios (Aus) v Dustin Brown (Ger)
[10] Petra Kvitova (Cze) v Ekaterina Makarova (Rus)
Andrey Kuznetsov (Rus) v [5] Kei Nishikori (Jpn)
[5] Simona Halep (Rom) v [26] Kiki Bertens (Ned)

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Murray Continues Wimbledon Quest, Now Plays Millman

  • Posted: Jun 30, 2016

Murray Continues Wimbledon Quest, Now Plays Millman

Jun302016

Doubles partners Mahut and Herbert will square-off in the third round

Second seed Andy Murray booked his spot in the third round at The Championships on Thursday by defeating Yen-Hsun Lu 6-3, 6-2, 6-1. He is now 48-9 lifetime at the All England Club, where he captured the 2013 title (d. Djokovic) to end a 77-year wait for a British male champion.

Murray converted seven of his 11 break point opportunities in the one-hour and 40-minute encounter on Centre Court. It was Murray’s 35th match win of the year, which includes a fifth crown at the Aegon Championships. He will now face John Millman for the second time, having won their January 2013 match at Brisbane. Murray has not lost before the third round in his 11 appearances at the grass-court major.

Lu, who had been riding an 11-match winning streak on grass that includes two ATP Challenger Tour titles, opened up the match with a 2-0 lead, but Murray was able to work his way back with service breaks in the sixth and eighth games. Murray withstood two break point opportunities in a 12-point hold to wrap up the 39-minute opener.

From a 1-3 deficit in the first set, Murray won seven straight games to a 2-0 advantage in the second set and seize control of their fifth FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting. The Scot went on another streak from 3-2 in the second set by winning seven successive games to a 4-0 lead in the third set.

John Millman withstood 53 winners from the racquet of Benoit Paire, the No. 26 seed, to finish victorious 7-6(5), 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 and reach a Grand Slam championship third round for the second time (also 2016 Australian Open).

You May Also Like: Raonic Soars Past Seppi At Wimbledon

 

Nicolas Mahut will look to record the 150th tour-level match win of his career against his doubles partner and fellow Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the Wimbledon third round.

Mahut advanced the third round for the first time since 2006 (l. to Federer) after he recorded a 6-1, 6-4, 6-3 victory over No. 13 seed David Ferrer in just under two hours. The two-time Ricoh Open titlist hit 44 winners including nine aces, while no rally lasted more than four shots. Herbert, who has partnered Mahut to four doubles trophies this year, struck 16 aces to overcome Damir Dzumhur 3-6, 7-6(1), 7-6(0), 6-2 in two hours and 19 minutes.

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Eighth seed Thiem out in second round – highlights and men's round-up

  • Posted: Jun 30, 2016
Wimbledon on the BBC
Venue: All England Club. Dates: 27 June-10 July
Live: Coverage across BBC TV, BBC Radio and BBC Sport website with further coverage on Red Button, Connected TVs and app. Click for more details

Men’s eighth seed Dominic Thiem was beaten in straight sets by Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic on an action-packed day four at Wimbledon.

Austrian Thiem lost three tie-breaks as he fell to a surprise 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-3) defeat on Court One.

Vesely is one of only two men to defeat Novak Djokovic in 2016 after beating him in April’s Monte Carlo Masters.

Vesely, 64th in the world rankings, plays 31st seed Joao Sousa of Portugal in the third round.

It is only the second time Vesely has reached that stage at Wimbledon, after losing to Australia’s Nick Kyrgios in that round two years ago.

Thiem, the highest-ranked seed to be eliminated from the men’s singles competition, reached the semi-finals of the French Open earlier this year before being beaten by eventual winner Djokovic.

‘You are the worst umpire ever’

Serbia’s Viktor Troicki was furious with the umpire during his second-round loss to Albert Ramos-Vinolas, calling him the “worst ever in the world”.

The 25th seed, 30, insisted an ace that gave Ramos-Vinolas match point was out, grabbing the ball off a ball boy and presenting it to the umpire.

“Did you see the ball? You are so bad,” Troicki shouted at Italian umpire Damiano Torella.

“Do you know what you did? You are horrible. What are you doing there? You are the worst umpire ever in the world.”

Spaniard Ramos-Vinolas, 28, went on to win 3-6 6-3 6-3 2-6 6-3.

The world number 36 will next face the winner of the match between Richard Gasquet and Marcel Granollers.

Simon to ‘sue everyone’

Frenchman Gilles Simon, the 16th seed, was knocked out in slippery conditions on Court One by Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov.

Dimitrov, 25, won 6-3 7-6 (7-1) 4-6 6-4, but Simon was left feeling disgruntled about the weather conditions throughout their drawn out three hours and two minutes tie.

“I feel the day I’m going to get injured on slippery grass, I’m going to sue everyone in the stadium,” the 31-year-old said.

“We try to understand what is happening in both parties, like tournaments and players – but in one point yesterday it was just ridiculous.”

Ferrer out to unseeded Mahut

Spaniard David Ferrer suffered a shock second-round defeat, losing 6-1 6-4 6-3 to unseeded Frenchman Nicolas Mahut.

Thirteenth seed Ferrer, a two-time Wimbledon quarter-finalist, was beaten by world number 51 Mahut, who moved into the third round for only the second time.

He will play fellow Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert in round three after he beat Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia-Herzegovina 3-6 7-6 (7-1) 7-6 (7-0) 6-2.

There was another surprise exit as big-serving Croat Ivo Karlovic was knocked out by Slovakian qualifier Lukas Lacko.

Karlovic, the 23rd seed, hit 34 aces but could not prevent Lacko from winning 6-3 3-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-4.

Meanwhile, sixth seed Milos Raonic secured his place in the last 32 with a straight-sets win over Andreas Seppi.

The Canadian won 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 6-2.

Ninth seed Marin Cilic joins Raonic in the next round after the Croat beat Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine 6-2 6-7 (6-8) 6-4 6-4.

Nottingham Open winner Steve Johnson is also through after the American beat Jeremy Chardy 6-1 7-6 (8-6) 6-3, while compatriot Jack Sock overcame Robin Haase.

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Raonic Soars Past Seppi At Wimbledon

  • Posted: Jun 30, 2016

Raonic Soars Past Seppi At Wimbledon

Jun302016

Sixth seed to face Sock

Milos Raonic played flawless attacking tennis in defeating Andreas Seppi 7-6(5), 6-4, 6-2 on Thursday in the second round of Wimbledon. The Canadian did not drop serve and closed out the match with his 25th ace just shy of the two-hour mark.

Raonic started the match with an unplayable 139mph serve and found his range on the return as the match progressed, going 3-for-4 on break points in the final two sets. He fired 41 total winners and won 19 of 26 net points (73 per cent).

The match had been slated for Wednesday but was postponed due to rainy weather. The Canadian was a semi-finalist at SW19 two years ago and is into the third round for the third consecutive year. Last year, he fell to #NextGen star Nick Kyrgios in four sets. The sixth seed improved to 2-0 in the FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry against Seppi and will face Jack Sock in the third round.

Sock advanced after overcoming Robin Haase 6-1, 6-3, 6-7(3), 6-4. The American saved all six break points faced and struck 53 winners in the two-hour, 16-minute encounter. The 2014 Wimbledon doubles champion (w/ Pospisil) is into the third round for the first time in the singles draw and will need to overcome a 7-1 deficit in the FedEx ATP Head2Head matchup against Raonic in his bid to reach the second week.

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Second seed Muguruza loses to world number 124

  • Posted: Jun 30, 2016
Wimbledon on the BBC
Venue: All-England Club Dates: 27 June-10 July
Live: Coverage across BBC TV, BBC Radio and BBC Sport website with further coverage on Red Button, Connected TVs and app. Click for more details

Second seed Garbine Muguruza is out of Wimbledon after losing the second round in straight sets to Slovakia’s world number 124 Jana Cepelova on Thursday.

The 22-year-old French Open winner, who lost last year’s final to Serena Williams, lost 6-3 6-2 on Court One.

It is a second big scalp for Cepelova in as many years at Wimbledon, after knocking out world number three Simona Halep in the first round last year.

The 23-year-old will face Czech 29th seed Lucie Safarova in the third round.

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Get Inspired: Tennis taught deaf athlete that 'anything is possible'

  • Posted: Jun 30, 2016

Wimbledon puts the sport’s biggest stars firmly in the international limelight. But what does tennis mean to those who operate outside of the big lights?

Valerie Copenhagen has played tennis since she was a teenager, and now competes for Great Britain’s deaf team.

How did you get into tennis?

I started playing tennis socially at the local club in my area when I was 13 and really enjoyed it and made some really good friends who I am still in touch with now.

However my passion and drive for tennis has really only come about in the last couple of years since moving to a different club and feeling that with hard work, commitment and dedication that anything is possible and goals can be achieved.

I love playing tennis for lots of reasons but it also helps having such lovely, committed and supportive people at my new club that support me and my goals.

Two years ago I went along to an ID Deaf Talent Day and it was the best decision I made as I was then invited to join the GB squad and I’ve never looked back.

What do you enjoy most about tennis?

If you want something… anything is possible

Valerie Copenhagen

I love everything about the game. I love how it makes my head go fuzzy from thinking too much about the strategies and skills to the singles and doubles games.

I love how even at my age, there is so much to learn, develop and get better on – we never stop learning and I really like that part of tennis.

I also enjoy watching clips of tennis players like Heather Watson, Maria Sharapova and Martina Hingis – learning about what makes them great tennis players and the amazing, clever shots they play.

Lastly, I have really enjoyed my experience being on the squad and meeting other deaf people. They are such lovely people and it is nice to be a part of the team working hard to make sure we do well not just for ourselves but for our country.

Did you have any concerns about taking up tennis?

I worried about whether my coach would be deaf aware and be able to remember that when we are in a session.

It is very hard to hear instructions or feedback when you are outside and the wind is strong and there is so much to learn in tennis and processes to get right.

I have very good speech and with my hair down, people don’t realise because I am a very good lip reader so this can sometimes make it more challenging to explain to people about the approach I need in tennis.

What has been your biggest success in tennis?

The opportunity to represent GB at the World Deaf Championships in Nottingham last year.

I was so nervous and didn’t really know what to expect. I managed to get through to the second round coming up against the world number one, a German player. I lost, but learnt a great deal from it.

I came home more driven and committed to making sure I do well.

What has tennis brought to your life?

Last February I suddenly lost my father and it was really hard to get on with things.

I remember throwing myself into training and tennis sessions with my coach and it really helped me get by. Tennis at that stage of my life really helped me keep my life on track and stay focused.

I have developed such good friendships through tennis and also a better understanding and appreciation of the game. When I watch tennis on TV I can look at a rally or a particular shot and understand the mechanics and processes behind that and have more admiration for the players.

Tennis and the opportunities I’ve had have taught me that if you want something, you will work hard to achieve it – and that anything is possible.

What are your hopes/ambitions for the future?

I would love to stay in the squad for as long as possible and have continued opportunities to represent my country, including if the opportunity arose to compete in the Deaflympics in 2017.

I know it will be hard work but I’m prepared and ready, so bring it on!

I am looking to do my Level One coaching course and hope I can not only help with the children’s sessions at my local club but also can inspire other young deaf people to take up the sport and get as much out of it as I have.

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