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A buffet of news nuggets from here, there and everywhere in this Thursday edition of the Daily Drill.
Bad news for Andy Murray, hopefully not-too-bad news for Frances Tiafoe, Andreescu tournament news.
And do you KNOW THE RULES OF TENNIS?
And again, thanks to everyone for supporting this new feature so well, reTweeting, clicking on ads and basically just encouraging us to keep bringing it to you every morning.
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Concern for Sir Andy
When Andy Murray walked out onto the centre court at Queen’s Club Wednesday to play his second-round match against Aussie Jordan Thompson, it was clear something wasn’t right.
And after five games, Murray retired with a concerning back issue that made his immediate future – and there is no long-term future in his case – rather a question mark.
He already had two strips of tape in the middle of his lower back coming out to play. And he showed signs of back issues in his first-round win. But on Wednesday, that “manageable” pain turned into “shooting pains down the right side of his back and leg,” during a pre-match warmup per the Guardian.
“The first two balls I hit in the warm-up, my right leg, it was so uncoordinated. I had no coordination. Then (my) right leg just was not working properly,” he told the media.
Murray’s issues have mostly been on the left side of his back. So this is new. And concerning. He’ll know more after having some scans.
Swift recovery, Andy 🫶@andy_murray #CinchChampionships pic.twitter.com/eYTwBynjtp
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) June 19, 2024
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Tiafoe update
American Frances Tiafoe was one of several players who had to retire at Queen’s Club, after slipping on the grass.
Brit Dan Evans was another.
Tiafoe’s update on Instagram indicates a Grade 1 sprain of the medial collateral ligament in his knee.
With Grade 1 being the “least worst” type of sprain, you can only hope that it won’t keep him out of Wimbledon.
The women’s side hasn’t been immune, although there have been fewer incidents.
But Marketa Vondrousova, the No. 5 seed in Berlin whose match was held over from Wednesday, had to retire at 5-5 in the first set against Anna Kalinskaya today.
Really nasty looking fall behind the baseline for Vondrousova. Wimbledon is less than two weeks away. https://t.co/9iaHTe8zKr
— Eleanor Crooks (@EleanorcrooksPA) June 20, 2024
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Ash Barty to return to SW19
Concurrently with the awful Murray news was the news that Ashleigh Barty – who is still just 28 but has been retired for more than two years, is returning to Wimbledon. – for the Legends Invitational.
According to Tennis Australia, she’ll partner up with countrywoman Casey Dellacqua.
The 2021 champion has been fairly low profile since her retirement,during which she gave birth to her first child. She won that Wimbledon title even though she came into the tournament with a 10 cm adductor tear.
Now, we don’t want to imply anything. But just noting here that showing up for the Legends Invitational at Wimbledon doesn’t mean a player is … forever done.
After all, Caroline Wozniacki played it last year. And she’s back in the game.
Also … way back in 2010, when Martina Hingis was just 29, she and Anna Kournikova (also 29) took the concept of “Legends” to a completely new place by playing that event.
It wasn’t long before Hingis returned to the tour.
Just sayin’. Barty would be even younger than those two.
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US Open Wild-Card race kicks off
The USTA holds “wild-card playoffs” with the big prize a main draw singles wild card for the Australian Open and Roland Garros, with which it has reciprocal privileges.
That’s not true at Wimbledon, coming up soon.
But as that Grand Slam begins, the wild-card playoff race for a free pass into the US Open itself will get under way for American players.
As usual, the men get a bigger window of opportunity; they get to use their best four results over six weeks, starting the week of July 1 and wrapping up at the end of the week of Aug. 5 (i.e. the week of the National Bank Open in Canada). The allowed tournaments start with $25K ITFs and right up to the main tour.
The women can use their best three over a four-week period, starting at the “35-level”, which also means $25K ITF events.
Sometimes, those wild cards pay off; Sofia Kenin won it twice early in her career, and once made the third round.
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Andreescu joins roster in Guadalajara
With Danielle Collins, Victoria Azarenka, defending champion Maria Sakkari and others already on board, the WTA 500 tournament in Guadalara – held the week before the US Open – announced that Canadian Bianca Andreescu will return.
With her current ranking at No. 163, she may well need a wild card (or use her protected ranking of No. 64).
Andreescu played the event in 2022, when it was held in October, and defeated Petra Kvitova in the second round before losing to Jessica Pegula.
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Want to work at the AO? Apply here
There are a ton of jobs available for the 2025 Australian Open – a pretty good gig if you want to see the players up close and personal.
At least, for some jobs.
Beyond retail, and hospitality, and laundry services and uniform management and “customer experience”, there are also jobs at the practice desk, changing rooms and player services and as a courtesy car driver. Also, on-court statisticians.
But it’s a slog. And, of course, you do have to be allowed to work in Australia and be available for these various steps that begin in just a few weeks.
After deciding what areas you’re interested in, there’s a 30-minute questionnaire to fill out so they “can get to know you better”.
If you get through that, you get invited to a ‘Team Quallies’ group assessment which will be held Aug. 17-18.
Even if you get a job and don’t work every day, you still have to be available from Jan. 6-26, 2025, or even earlier.
They’ll also do a background check on you.
One thing that’s not mentioned anywhere? Getting paid.
The US Open is doing a similar thing in about 10 days for their late-summer Grand Slam, with a job fair on June 26-27.
Most of the jobs range from $17-19 US an hour, with some paying a lot more than that.
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Do you know the Rules of the Court?
The Ontario Tennis Association has posted its biennial update of “Rules of the Court”, which is the Canadian version of the USTA’s “Friend at Court” and the successor to the historic “Yardstick”.
It contains all of the basic rules of playing a tennis match from the ITF, WTA and ATP and a section about “The Code” – which is the way you should behave and proceed when you’re playing a competitive match that doesn’t have an official present. It also has case decisions about the various things that pop up during a match
It’s crazy how many people have no idea about some of these idiosyncracies in the rules – and that includes the pro players.
Did you know that…
• you can keep playing with the broken string if you break a string on the first serve? And, as the receiver, you can also do that, with the other option being that your opponent gets a first serve if you go get a fresh bat, because of the delay between the two serves.
• the receiver is allowed to stand outside the lines of the court – basically, anywhere on their side of the net.
• if the served ball strikes the receiver before the ball hits the ground, the receiver loses the point.
• in singles, the server is not allowed to serve standing behind the part of the baseline between the singles sideline and the doubles sideline.
• if you whiff on the ball when you try to hit a serve, it’s a fault.
• the server’s partner and the receiver’s partner may take any position on their own side of the net – which means that the receiver’s partner technically can stand inside the service box when the opponent is serving there.
• Tennis Canada officials may not drink any alcoholic beverages within twelve (12) hours before their assignment.
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For previous editions of the Daily Drill, click here.
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Do you know when Canada will announce Olympic teams? Love these new articles btw! Lots of great info.
Yesterday was the nomination deadline. I guess ping pong and kayaking are taking precedence.
Raonic, Shapovalov and Andreescu (borderline) should all be in with their protected rankings.
Plus FAA. And Fernandez
And Gabriela Dabrowski, who SHOULD be able to pick who she wants to play doubles with. But who knows whether or not someone will decide for her.