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Plenty of Canadian content – again, as the second week of grass begins.
Both Félix Auger-Aliassime and Leylah Fernandez were to open their green seasons on the stadium courts at their respective events (Halle for Auger-Aliassime, Birmingham for Fernandez).
Auger-Aliassime played wild card Dominik Koepfer. Unfortunately, he suddenly retired in the second set, after pulling something in his hip when he slid on the pristine grass court.
Fernandez gets an interesting challenge against Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo, who’s best on clay but annoying on any surface.
Milos Raonic is at Queen’s Club, with a tough ask against Cameron Norrie.
Follow all the Canadian results here.
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Plus ça change during grass season
A notice on the LTA site, concerning the Ilkley Challenger on Monday
With all the rain at the various grass events last week, it’s impressive that everything got through on time.
Even though, at the Nottingham Challenger, there was a lot of men’s action indoors while the concurrent women’s WTA event soldiered on between the drops outside.
That said, where HASN’T there been rain this year?
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Raducanu passes on Paris – again
As many British players were nominated for the Paris Olympic event, the headline of course will be that Emma Raducanu won’t be there.
The 21-year-old, who had a great week last week in making the semis in Nottingham, has her every moved scrutinized down to the last comma.
But although, as a Grand Slam champion, she was offered one of the two places in the women’s draw reserved for former Grand Slam champions – the ITF is the Britishiest of British outfits, and of COURSE Raducanu would get dibs – the surface change involved from grass was a clincher.
I’m very single minded and I do things my own way and in my own time whenever I want. So not in a diva way, [I’m] just prioritising my body and my health because I know if I’m fit, I know if I’m giving my 100 per cent, I know great things are happening and coming,” Raducanu said in Nottingham, as reported by the BBC and other outlets. “I just don’t think there’s any need to put additional stress on my body or any risk, especially with my history.”
It probably came out in a different tone than she meant. But it seems her summer schedule was finalized when there was still no guarantee that she would get one of the invites.
And as a Brit the grass season is always a big thing. And she already passed on playing at Roland Garros, which would have required being in the qualifying.
There are a number of former Grand Slam champions who could use one of those two spots. Those include Naomi Osaka, Angelique Kerber, Caroline Wozniacki and likely even Bianca Andreescu.
Wozniacki has already announced she’s got one of them.
On the men’s side, Andy Murray got the invite as a multiple Grand Slam champion and also a two-time Olympic gold medallist.
He also was nominated by the LTA in doubles with Dan Evans.
Other men’s singles nominations are Jack Draper, Cameron Norrie and Evans.
The only female singles nomination is Katie Boulter, this week’s Nottingham champion.
In doubles:Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski, Boulter and Heather Watson – and … women’s doubles, and Harriet Dart (doubles ranking No. 114) and Maia Lumsden (No. 64).
That last one is indicative of how the Olympic tennis draws are a hodge podge of things; the two have never even played together.
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Italian Olympic team 10 strong
If you thought that British contingent was rather big, the Italians have 10 on their nominated list for Paris.
In men’s singles: Jannik Sinner, Matteo Arnaldi, Lorenzo Musetti and Luciano Darderi.
In women’s singles: Jasmine Paolini, Elisabetta Cocciaretto and Lucia Bronzetti.
In men’s doubles: Sinner and Musetti and Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori.
In women’s doubles: Rome champions and Roland Garros finalists Paolini and Sara Errani, along with Cocciaretto and Bronzetti.
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No sponsorship shortage in Hurlingham
The fancy exhibitions in the U.K. the week before Wimbledon are pretty posh affairs.
And they also are the living embodiment of the old saying, “The rich get richer.”
The annual Hurlingham week, called the Giorgi Armani Classic, has confirmed Alexander Zverev, Frances Tiafoe, Holger Rune, Karen Khachanov and Cameron Norrie so far.
But it has confirmed multiples of that in sponsors.
Here’s their list:
Giorgio Armani, Citi Taste of Tennis. Whispering Angel, Marriott Bonvoy, Infosys, Rolls-Royce, Hilton Head Island, Kweichow Moutai and Wheely.
Take a break.
Also: Clé de Peau Beauté, Go Fundraising, Ty Namt, Estrella Damm and Jim & Tonic.
The club (which is absolutely lovely) is also having a 12-player 12-and-under event that will include a few British players and also Jagger Leach, the son of former Wimbledon champion Lindsay Davenport.
This event, and the one at Stoke Park called the “Boodles”, fall the same week as two ATP 250 events. One of which – Eastbourne – falls within the 100-mile radius for top-30 players not to be allowed to play an exhibition held the same week as an official tournament.
You’d imagine these two events got … special dispensation.
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Legend Marcus Willis is a top 100 player
At age 33, after 17 years as a pro, Brit Marcus Willis is officially a top 100 player.
Even notwithstanding the native advantages Brits have with a rich federation and all those grass-season freebies, this is an outstanding achievement and a testament to perseverence.
Willis first appeared in the ATP Tour rankings in Oct. 2007. That’s how long it’s taken.
His back story is well-known.
A decade ago, he got internet famous for all the wrong reasons when he beat American Tennys Sandgren at a Challenger after a mid-match snack of a Coke and a Snickers bar.
Two years later, he got through the qualifying into the main draw, won his first round and got to face icon Roger Federer on famed Centre Court, that might already have been a happy ending for his story.
By 2000, he was coaching kids and scrapping out a living.
Eight years on from that Centre Court moment, having retooled himself as a doubles specialist two years ago, he’s top 100 after winning the Nottingham Challenger with Aussie John Peers.
(That the pair got two walkovers out of four matches on the way to the title will be a fact lost in history, eventually).
Here’s a piece on his reinvention.
And a nod from Sandgren, the victim in the “Snickers match:
You finally aren’t bad anymore
— Tennys Sandgren (@TennysSandgren) June 17, 2024
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No Olympics for Rublev, Khachanov and Samsonova
Earlier this spring, Russian tennis overlord Shamil Tarpischev said the Russian federation had received the go-ahead for all its eligible players to participate in the Olympic tennis event at Roland Garros.
Fast forward a little, and there are three who won’t be there: Andrey Rublev, Karen Khachanov and Liudmilla Samsonova.
According to TASS, Tarpischev said Rublev, who won the gold medal in mixed doubles with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova at the Tokyo games, needs a physical break.
He didn’t elaborate on the reasons for the absence of the other two.
6 thoughts on “The Daily Drill – Monday, June 17, 2024”
Comments are closed.
Even though he is not in Wimbledon, he seems to be an optimistic guy who thinks he will be given a wild card. Would he be playing warm-up grass tournaments if he didn’t think so? Or, would he want to play them just to test out his body? Tks.
Just the opposite. He told me he wasn’t super optimistic about them giving him a wild card. Partly because they … didn’t give him one last year when he asked for it.
That’s why he … entered the qualifying.
He’s playing because … it’s a tennis tournament. And he’s trying to come back to the Tour. And he can get in with his protected ranking. And it’s a good surface for him. And he wants to play.
Raonic is definitely far beyond the point of treating Queen’s as a “warmup”.
I think they will give him one, though. But that’s a personal opinion.
Hope you are right!
Me too!!! 😛
So far this grass season, Raonic’s physical condition has surprised me. After his first match in the Netherlands, I didn’t think he would make his second match. But he did, & won it! Again, thought he might not make his match with DeMinaur. Again, proved me wrong. But, the biggest surprise to me was that he playing this AM against Norrie. Not only played, but won a tough 3-setter. In his match against DeMinaur, he looked so spent physically. He was barely moving by the end of the match. I thought, for sure, he would need to rest until Wimbledon. Kudos to him, & his body for holding up pretty well, so far.
Well, whatever else he always has his serve.
It’s the least effortful way to try to win. Probably the only way he won!
But I’m not sure he can afford to “rest until Wimbledon”.
Since he’s not even IN Wimbledon at this point.