Wimbledon Day 2 Review-

More stars came out to play today, and one top seed was toppled in a big upset. This is the official Up The Line recap of Wimbledon’s Day 2.

Featured Matches-

(2) Federer d. Harris 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2

An odd first set from Federer, as Harris was the one seemingly in control, with big serves plus forehands, exemplifying first strike tennis. Once Federer donated a backhand for the break, Harris quickly took the first set. This seemed to light a fire in Federer, who quickly shaped up his footwork and tactics, proceeded to blitz Harris as the match went on. Only five games won on serve from the South African from that point on, as Federer started returning deeper and more consistently, leaving less room for the big forehand. A decent effort from the youngster, seemingly hampered by a calf problem from the third set on, but Federer on grass was too much for him today.

Federer takes on Jay Clarke next.

(3) Nadal d. Sugita 6-3, 6-1, 6-3

Nadal started out the match with a very awkward slip on the very first serve and proceeded to go down 0*-2 0-40, spraying balls everywhere. From there however, he reined in his groundstrokes, and proceeded to take control of both the first and second sets. Nadal let up slightly in the third set, but the level of Sugita was not enough to take advantage, and Nadal broke late in the third to wrap up the win. Rafa’s first serve percentage was not great, but 11 aces for the lefty bodes well for the potential later stages of the tournament.

Plays Kyrgios (!!) on Thursday.

Querrey d. (5) Thiem 6-7(4), 7-6(1), 6-3, 6-0

Disappointing performance from the RG finalist, but credit to Querrey for coming back from a set deficit. The first set was only separated by a mini break in at 3*-4 in the tiebreak, where Querrey missed a forehand, allowing Thiem to serve it out. The second set was more of the same, except this time, Thiem completely crumbled in the face of pressure, and Querrey produced a flurry of winners to even it up. The next two sets were all Querrey, as Thiem got very frustrated on both the break point to lose the third set, and the first break in the fourth, and seemed dazed and confused after that. Querrey takes out the toughest challenge in his part of the draw, and could be a surprise quarterfinalist?

He will take on Rublev next.

(12) Fognini d. Tiafoe 5-7, 6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4

What a back and forth match from these two. The first set seemed to be Tiafoe’s until he gifted multiple errors for a break back. However, Fognini felt generous as well, dumping a backhand for the last break of the set, letting Tiafoe calmly serve it out. However, the next two sets went the way of Fognini, courtesy of some crucial misses on big points for the young American. It seemed as if the Italian would finish it in four, but his consistency had other ideas, gifting four unforced errors in a game to let Tiafoe break back at 3-4*, and double faulting down set point. This comeback was quickly stopped with an opening break of the fifth set, and Fognini did his part to hold down the stretch.

Fognini plays Fucsovics next.

Kyrgios d. Thompson 7-6(4), 3-6, 7-6(10), 0-6, 6-1

In typical Kyrgios fashion, this match could have been over in three or four sets, but nothing ever goes normally in the land of Nick. Thompson led the first set 5-2*, but proceeded to squander the lead, and Kyrgios tightened up in the tiebreak, pummeling serves to clinch a lead. He lost focus in the second, and in the third he was oscillating between amazing and confusing, holding two set points before dropping in an underarm serve in one of them, sending them to a tiebreak. Six more set points in the breaker went by until he clinched it 12-10. The fourth set was one of the strangest of the Championships so far, taking only 18 minutes as Nick seemed to just tank, for lack of a better work, only winning 5 total points in the set. The fifth set went the opposite way, like a pendulum on a clock, as Kyrgios seemed to be rested and became quite engaged, and Thompson started to miss much more. An important win for him, getting the better of the notion that he can’t perform against lower rated players.

Plays Nadal (!!) Thursday.

Other Matches-

(9) Isner d. Ruud 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(9)

(13) Cilic d. Mannarino 7-6(6), 7-6(4), 6-3

(8) Nishikori d. Monteiro 6-4, 7-6(3), 6-4

Tsonga d. Tomic 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 (this was an absolutely awful tank from Tomic, fines should be incoming)

(27) Pouille d. Gasquet 6-1, 6-4, 7-6(4)

Evans d. Delbonis 6-3, 7-6(5), 6-3

(20) Simon d. Caruso 7-6(7), 6-3, 6-2

(33) Struff d. Albot 6-4, 6-3, 6-2

Fucsovics d. Novak 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(2), 6-2

Koepfer d. Krajinovic 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(9), 6-1

Kukushkin d. Andujar 6-3, 6-2, 6-4

Sandgren d. Uchiyama 3-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-3

(31) Djere d. Andreozzi 3-6, 7-6(3), 7-6(3), 6-3

Johnson d. Ramos-Vinolas 6-4, 6-2, 6-3

Millman d. Dellien 6-2, 6-3, 6-4

Baghdatis d. Schnur 6-2, 6-4, 6-4

Clarke d. Rubin 4-6, 7-5, 6-4, 6-4

Rublev d. Garin 4-6, 6-4, 7-5, 6-4

Berrettini d. Bedene 3-6, 6-3 6-2, 7-6(3)

Barrere d. Bublik 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3

Berankis d. (29) Shapovalov 7-6(0), 6-4, 6-3

(25) De Minaur d. Cecchinato 6-0, 6-4, 7-6(5)

(24) Schwartzman d. Ebden 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2

Norrie d. Istomin 6-2, 6-4, 6-4

Fritz d. Berdych 6-4, 6-4, 6-3

(18) Basilashvili d. Ward 2-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 8-6

Sousa d. Jubb 6-0, 6-3, 6-7(8), 6-1

Wimbledon Day 1 Review

Wimbledon was full of excitement and surprises right from the get-go. After Day 1, this is the Up The Line Tennis roundup for the day.

Featured Matches

(1) Djokovic d. Kohlschreiber 6-3, 7-5, 6-3

Djokovic was broken early in both the first and second sets but came back with his usual returning game to break back right away. Kohlschreiber did not have enough firepower to win an encounter here on the grass against Djokovic, and besides the two sketchy games to start the first two sets, Djokovic was almost untouchable on his serve, winning 42/50 points on his first serve, and continually got in return games, almost winning half his return points. A consistently good performance, Novak should be pleased with his play today. The defending champion is seeming to be a force in the making again this fortnight.

Djokovic plays Kudla Wednesday.

Vesely d. (6) Zverev 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 7-5

The grand slam curse continues for Alex Zverev, looking very lost and timid on the court today. Zverev took the first set courtesy of a couple of inconveniently timed errors from Vesely as he was serving to stay in the match. However, on the day, Vesely was very good on serve, making 67% of his first serves and winning 80% of those points, which left Zverev stranded. His shot selection was poor, and Vesely got to the net a lot and took time away, winning 38/45. Zverev’s match was poor in general, and as he said after the match, his “confidence is below zero right now”. Hopefully he gets his season turned around soon.

Vesely plays Cuevas Wednesday.

Fabbiano d. (7) Tsitsipas 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, 6-7(8), 6-3

This was a very entertaining match, especially coming from a non-grass courter in Fabbiano. Lots of inconsistency from Stefanos, missing 4 break points in the first set, and then throwing away the third set with a peck of unforced errors. However, Thommy had eaten his Wheaties to start the day, and pushed Tsitsipas deep into the fourth set tiebreak, that the Greek only got out of with some determined net rushes and stellar serve-forehand combos to push it to a fifth. Double faults became the norm though, as two of them set up both break points, that Fabbiano converted with huge forehands to take the match. A disappointing and slightly surprising loss from Stef, but he has played lots of tennis, and grass has never been his favorite.

Fabbiano gets big serving Dr. Ivo Karlovic next.

(19) Auger-Aliassime d. Pospisil 5-7, 6-2, 6-4, 6-3

FAA, everyone’s favorite golden boy, finally(!!) gets his first Grand Slam main draw win over his countryman. Serving at 5*-6, Felix dropped in two double faults to surrender the first set, but quickly roared back to take the next three. Felix still raises concerns with his serve, especially his consistency, with only 56% in, and 11 double faults over the course of the match. However, when in rallies, Felix was all over Pospisil from both wings, which is so exciting for his development. The teen has a bright future and will continue to explore that here at Wimbledon.

He plays qualifier Corentin Moutet next.

Other Matches-

(30) Edmund d. Munar 6-4, 6-4, 6-4

(22) Wawrinka d. Bemelmans 6-3, 6-2, 6-2

(4) Anderson d. Herbert 6-3, 6-4, 6-2

Humbert d. (16) Monfils 6-7(6), 3-6, 6-4, 7-5, 3-0 ret. ☹

(15) Raonic d. Gunneswaran 7-6(1), 6-4, 6-2

(10) Khachanov d. Kwon 7-6(6), 6-4, 4-6, 7-5

(11) Medvedev d. Lorenzi 6-3, 7-6(2), 7-6(2)

(23) Bautista Agut d. Gojowczyk 6-3, 6-2, 6-3

Granollers d. Sonego 7-6(4), 6-4, 6-4

Hurkacz d. (32) Lajovic 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4

Opelka d. Stebe 6-3, 7-6(4), 6-1

Karlovic d. Arnaboldi 6-4, 6-4, 7-6(4)

Mayer d. Gulbis 6-1, 7-6(12), 6-2

Popyrin d. Carreno Busta 7-6(2), 7-5, 6-2

Darcis d. M. Zverev 6-2, 6-4, 6-4

Chardy d. Klizan 3-6, 6-0, 6-3, 6-4

Kudla d. Jaziri 6-4, 6-1, 6-3

Lopez d. Giron 6-4, 6-2, 6-4

Cuevas d. Dzumhur 4-6, 7-6(8), 2-6, 6-4, 6-2

Haase d. Kovalik 6-1, 6-3, 6-1

(28) Paire d. Londero 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 7-6(4)

Tipseravic d. Nishioka 6-4, 6-7(2), 6-2, 5-7, 6-2

Moutet d. Dimitrov 2-6, 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-3, 6-1

Seppi d. Jarry 6-3, 6-7(8), 6-1, 6-2

Verdasco d. Majchrzak 6-4, 6-4, 6-4

(26) Pella d. Copil 7-6(11), 5-7, 6-3, 6-4

(21) Goffin d. Klahn 6-4, 6-4, 6-4

The other half of the draw will commence play tomorrow, featuring both Federer and Nadal. Check back with us tomorrow for a detailed roundup, and check out our Twitter and Instagram for live updates!

ITF Junior Roehampton Preview

The Roehampton J1 tournament is looking to be a talented lineup full of the top players as they get ready for Junior Wimbledon. As this is the final week to warm up for the Grand Slam, more and more players are taking this chance to get match play in and potentially gain points. The field is led by Junior #3 and Junior RG champion Holger Rune, but he is no easy favorite to take the title. Elliot Spirrizzi is a potential round of 16 opponent for the Dane, and Virginia freshman Brandon Nakashima or J1 Nottingham champion Shintaro Mochizuki could meet him in the quarters. For second seed and Milan winner Jonas Forejtek, Tyler Zink lurks in Round 3, and any one of Blu Baker, Carlos Garfia, or Emilio Nava may be a quarterfinal matchup. However, none of these players are our prediction to win. We believe Martin Damm, the rapid rising American, will take out 2018 Orange Bowl champion Otto Virtanen in the final, and set himself up for a big week at the All England Club.

UTL Tennis Prediction– Martin Damm d. Otto Virtanen 7-5, 6-4

ITF WTT Update- June

The ITF’s World Tennis Tour, or Transition Tour, has recently announced it will be shifting its system once again, back to where one singles ranking from the ATP will be in use for both ITF and ATP events. A summary of the changes from the ITF is down below.

M25 and M15 events will now award ATP ranking points from the round of 16 in singles, and the quarterfinals of doubles.
Qualifying draws will increase from 32 to 48 players.
Points will be retroactively attached to players rankings in August of 2019, for the past calendar year.
Junior exceptions will be for up to 3 players in the top 100 of the ITF Junior Rankings at M15 events. No exceptions for any M25 events.
The ITF, ATP, and national tennis associations are exploring a possible lower level of tournament to allow for easier transitions to the pro tour, such as a possible satellite circuit.

This is a positive step for many players to have more opportunities on the tour, at both the ITF and ATP levels. As for our coverage of the ITF Tour, ITF scores will still be reported on this section of the site, but no rankings will be reported, as the ATP ranking is once again becoming the most important ranking in the world.

Check back next week for ITF scores as we approach Wimbledon!

Wimbledon 2019 Preview

The world’s most recognizable tennis tournament begins on Monday, with a wide open draw and lots of intriguing clashes. Below are four storylines that will be important to the next two weeks and predictions for the tournament.

The ATP Player Rep Situation

At the time of writing, the decision seems to have been made to have Weller Evans, longtime ATP executive, become the third ATP player representative for the rest of the 2019 season, replacing Justin Gimelstob, who has stepped down after being charged with assault after allegedly attacking his neighbor. Evans beat out Nicolas Lapentti for the spot by a vote from the two existing player representatives, Alex Inglot and David Egdes, after the player council reached a 5-5 deadlock. After the decision was made, Robin Haase, one of the council members, announced his resignation, due to issues that he felt were important not being focused on. Rumors swirl that he will not be the only one to resign in the coming days. As Evans only is in the seat until the new year, this will be a very interesting dynamic to watch, especially if Lapentti is interested in running again.

Djokovic to Defend Wimbledon?

In news that has to do with the playing of the game, Novak Djokovic begins the defense of his massive amount of points here at Wimbledon, and faces ever present Philipp Kohlschreiber in the first round. While the German will probably not cause problems like he did in Indian Wells this year, Djokovic could face a stern test as early as the fourth round, from either the rising Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime, who seems to be great on every surface. or mercurial Frenchman Gael Monfils. Djokovic seems to have an easier half than both Federer or Nadal, but there are many banana skins that line his road to the title, including a matchup with either of the two greats in the final.

Young Seeds Looking to Cause a Stir

We’ve already mentioned Felix Auger-Aliassime, but he and other young players that are either seeded or close to the top 32 are ready to crash the party here. Matteo Berrettini, a big serving Italian who seems to be able to play on all surfaces, has a good draw lined up for him that could include a Round 4 clash with Roger Federer later in the week. He did not drop serve all week en route to winning Stuttgart, and his only loss on grass came to David Goffin, who’s playing his best tennis on grass in a long time. Alex De Minaur, even though he is rusty and not that in form, has a pretty open draw by his standards. It depends on both the seeds in his draw being out of sorts, which are Nishikori and Isner. Neither have played a grass event, and Isner has not played since Miami. However Taylor Fritz is in this section too, coming off his first title on the circuit. Don’t be surprised if one of them make a quarterfinal.

Seeding Arguments and Rafa’s Draw

Controversy has reigned over the past week with Roger Federer, ranked three in the world, being awarded the second seed at Wimbledon at the expense of Rafael Nadal. This is due to Wimbledon having its own seeding formula, which puts a premium on points from grass court events, which Federer always has due to his participation at Halle and better track record at the All England Club, while Nadal only plays Wimbledon. Nadal has been supported by Brad Gilbert and other former players and names in the industry, saying this method of seeding should be done away with. Compounding his struggles is a potential second round matchup with foe Nick Kyrgios, his conqueror in Acapulco this year, where tensions ran very high between them, and still do today. Other names such as Tsonga, Dan Evans, and former finalist Marin Cilic lurk in his section, making his run to a possible title pretty difficult.

Predictions!

Round of 16-

Djokovic vs. Auger-Aliassime

Chardy vs. Tsitsipas

Herbert vs. Raonic

Khachanov vs. Zverev

Thiem vs. Tiafoe

Evans vs. Nadal

Nishikori vs. Fritz

Berrettini vs. Federer

Quarterfinals-

Djokovic vs. Tsitsipas

Raonic vs. Khachanov

Thiem vs. Nadal

Fritz vs. Federer

Semifinals-

Djokovic vs. Raonic

Nadal vs. Federer

Finals-

Djokovic vs. Federer

Wimbledon 2019 Champion-

Roger Federer

Check back on Tuesday for coverage on each round as it happens!

Halle, Queens Review

The ATP’s two premier grass events took the tennis world’s spotlight this week, and it was a 10th time similar for Roger Federer, and a Royal Double for Feli Lopez. Read on for a complete update.

Halle- ATP 500

Roger Federer began his truncated grass campaign of 2019 with a 10th win at the Noventi Open in Halle, defeating David Goffin 7-6(2), 6-1. Goffin was really in the match for the first set, upping his service quality tremendously, and creating multiple 0-30 and 0-40 holes on Federer’s serve. However, Federer just played the big points better, and a weary Goffin ran out of gas in what was an underwhelming second set.

Other Bits-

Federer locks up the second seed for Wimbledon, and continues to show us he can win without being at his best. Goffin played really well for a set, and Federer not at his top level, but he was still able to take home the title. He’s looking to be a favorite as he continually has been.

Goffin moves up to 23 in the world. This final is his best result of the year, on his worst surface. However, he’s got lots of upcoming points in Cincinnati (SF) and the US Open (R16). If he plays like this week, he could go deep at Wimby.

Matteo Berrettini continues his rapid rise with a semifinal appearance here. He has an all court game that suits every surface he’s played on, and he only defends a title at Gstaad in July, so there’s lots of room to continue his historic year.

Pierre Hugues-Herbert has always been a doubles star, but is showing his singles talent as he’s gradually focused more on it. He will be playing doubles with Andy Murray at SW19, but there’s still room for him to make a run there. Serve and volleyers always seem to return at Wimbledon!

Queens- ATP 500

Feliciano Lopez, although being semi-retired and holding the position of Tournament Director for the Mutua Madrid Open, made a glorious return to Queens Club as he captured the title over Gilles Simon, 6-2, 6-7(4), 7-6(2). Lopez was an absolute grass court specialist for the first set, easily serving and volleying away any trouble on his serve. But Simon found a better rhythm and shot placement in sets 2 and 3, setting up fierce tiebreakers. Lopez was able to crank a few big serves in the 3rd set breaker to differentiate the two, but an entertaining final overall.

Lopez makes it two titles here in 3 years, and added the doubles trophy with Andy Murray. His ranking goes to 53, getting him direct entry almost anywhere he wants to play before the end of the year. Speculation persists that he will retire in 2020, but the aging Spaniard seems to have given himself new life.

Simon, a career counterpuncher, makes this his best grass result ever, and a reward of 25th in the world. This should get him seeded for Wimbledon, giving him more opportunity to defend his Round of 16 appearance. Age was just a number at Queens this week.

The above statement also applies to Felix Auger-Aliassime. He stays at 21, his career high, and has a wide open rest of the year ahead of him, with ample opportunities to build on his ranking and capture ATP title #1.

The other semi finalist, Daniil Medvedev stays at 13 in the world as well, but has lots of points on the end of his year. He may be able to better his third round appearance last year at Wimbledon with his current form and his flat backhand though.

Next Week- The final preparations for Wimbledon commence, with 250 level tournaments in Eastbourne and Antalya.

ATP Midway Takeaways

As we approach the halfway point of the ATP season, with two grand slams almost in the books, a lot of lessons have been learned. Everyone knows about the Djokovic comeback and almost untouchable play, Rafa’s continued dominance on his favorite surface, and Federer’s immortality. However, there are many other players doing big things, some under the radar, some not so much. Here, we bring the five biggest successes of the year, and the five toughest campaigns so far.

Players on the Rise-

Felix Auger-Aliassime

A cliché name to write about at this point, but his achievements are quite impressive to not discuss, Felix Auger-Aliassime has had an insane 2019 for an 18-year-old. People knew he was ready to shine at the turn of the year, but no one expected a meteoric rise so fast. Once on the clay in February, he blitzed through a field in the 500 in Rio including Fabio Fognini, Christian Garin (who will be discussed later), before finally falling in two tight sets to Laslo Djere (who is also on this list!). Not to be stopped, he grabbed his first top 10 win against Tsitsipas in Indian Wells, before coming through qualifying in Miami and making his first Masters 1000 semifinal, before falling to John Isner. Another final in Lyon followed, however he could not make his RG debut, as the ab muscle injury he picked up during his Lyon run caused him to miss the tournament. His groundstrokes suit any court, and his mental game on court is on par with some of the top pros on the circuit, an insane feat for his age. A few more tweaks and experience will help this incredibly talented youngster continue to make a name for himself.

Stefanos Tsitsipas

Tsitsipas made a name for himself last year, making the finals in Toronto, picking up a notable list of scalps along the way, starting with Thiem, the Wimbledon champ Djokovic, Anderson, and Zverev, before falling to Nadal. After picking up ATP title #1 in Stockholm, then winning the Next Gen Finals, he was the prime name to watch in 2019, and boy has he delivered. Upsetting Federer en route to the Australian Open semis, then following that up with title #2. Making the final in Dubai where he narrowly lost a rematch to Federer. Tearing up the clay season, with a title in Estoril, a final in the 1000 in Madrid, where he took out Zverev and Nadal, and a semi in Rome. Stef’s groundstrokes are very solid for his tender age, and his mental concentration and toughness is comparable to some of the greats on tour, such as Andy Murray or even Federer himself. Tsitsipas has shown lots of progress in the past year, and he seems to be becoming the prime threat to dethrone the Big Three, ahead of his older Next Gen colleague Alex Zverev.

Juan Ignacio Londero

Juan Ignacio Londero spent his 2018 on the Challenger circuit, picking up his first titles and making a huge jump from around 360 to 113 in the world. His 2019 has been one of unimaginable proportions. After taking a wildcard into the inaugural Cordoba Open, the 25-year-old used his great shot tolerance and forehand to grab his maiden ATP title, then qualify and make the round of 16 at the 500 in Rio. While results were spotty through the middle of the year, he dispatched two Frenchmen en-route to a first round of 16 in his first ever Major appearance at Roland Garros, joining names such as David Goffin, Andrei Medvedev, and Marat Safin to do this. It will be interesting to see how Londero approaches the summer months, as he may choose to stay on the clay instead of transferring to the hard courts in lead up to the US Open. Whatever he chooses, his electric blond hair and loud on court demeanor will have us entranced as he continues his upstart year.

Benoit Paire

Benoit Paire. Where to start. The effervescent yet sometimes disinterested Frenchman did not hit his stride until April, where he quickly made up for lost time. A final at the Casino Admiral Challenger in Marbella was coupled with a win in Marrakech, taking his revenge on Pablo Andujar for the challenger in Alicante. More wins in Barcelona seemed to be the end of it, but recently he has put together even more form, becoming one of the few multi-time champions on the Tour for the year, with a title in Lyon. Roland Garros was another spectacle, taking out countryman Herbert 11-9 in the fifth en route to his first “….” In his career. His wacky game, complete with a loopy forehand, slap of a backhand, and lots of tweeners and dropshots, is one to make art out of tennis. If he can sustain this level of play over the year, he could eclipse his career high of 18 by the end.

Christian Garin

Christian Garin had never found sustained success on the ATP Tour until this year, and boy what a year it has been. Hitting the Top 100 in October was nice, with his three consecutive Challenger titles to end the season. However 2019 has been a whole different beast. His strength is the dirt, with his penetrating groundstrokes and topspin, and this parlayed into a final in Sao Paulo and a first title in Houston. Back to back weeks later on in April parlayed into two wins in Barcelona and a second title in Munich, claiming a scalp of Alex Zverev along the way. The Chilean has a very good clay court game, but it will be important to see if his 19-7 record can stay intact during the grass and hard court seasons.

Players Looking to Turn it Around-

Alexander Zverev

Alex Zverev has come in year after year with the weight of the collective tennis world on his shoulders. Continually tasked with being “the chosen one” to stake his claim in breaking up the Big Three and being pressured to finally make a leap in Grand Slams after many years of early exits, Zverev didn’t seem up to it to start the year. A very dispirited loss to Raonic in the Round of 16 in Australia had many wondering whether he was injured, sick, or just plain tired of spinning his wheels. However, things seemed to look up after a run to the final in Acapulco, but this was the peak of the year. It took Zverev two and a half months to finally string back to back wins together after that, losing to names like Jarry, Struff, and an elderly David Ferrer. He seemed to be righting the ship with a win in Geneva, however his Roland Garros seems to be on a similar path of last year, with a Djokovic matchup upcoming. He seems to be in a rut, with a lot of his clay court points now gone, and a title in Washington and a quarters in Canada to defend, this summer will be a big time as he gears up to defend the mammoth 1,300 points he got from winning the ATP finals. His ground game is strong, the serve is there, he just needs to keep his head in the right place and make good tactical and mental choices consistently in matches.

Hyeon Chung

Chung has struggled with injuries in the past, namely the blisters that caused him to retire against Federer in the Australian Open semis, and the ankle that kept him out of RG and Wimbledon last year. However, Chung was looking to put that behind him and keep the form he had found in the beginning months of the year. However, his back disagreed with this idea since last year around the summer or fall and has really affected his play. He is very movement based, a good returner, and uses his athleticism to stay in many points. Without this attribute, he has looked vulnerable in the limited court time he had this year, and he has not played since Rotterdam in February. He even tried to make a comeback at the Little Rock Challenger this week, but reinjured the back in warmups. Hopefully Chung can overcome these injuries, as he has a bright future when he is playing well.

Marin Cilic

Marin Cilic started the year off with a foot injury that has caused his movement to struggle, and his form in 2019 has reflected that. A fourth-round appearance in Australia and a quarterfinal in Madrid are the only times he has made it out of the first round of any tournaments he has played, and even then, had to withdraw in Madrid before playing Djokovic. The Croat has not lost any of his hard-hitting groundstrokes, especially the big forehand, but has become quite lethargic due to his injury. Time to rest and rehab is probably a good idea, but with points to defend at Queens, he doesn’t have much room to take off.

Pablo Carreno Busta

Recent news has let us know Pablo Carreno Busta has had to withdraw from Stuttgart with a thigh injury, the same one that caused him to retire from his third-round match against Benoit Paire. This, compounded with a right shoulder injury that caused him to retire in the Cordoba Open in February and sit out for the next 10 weeks, has drastically shortened a season that has dropped him in the rankings, far beyond where his talent should place him. After his dramatic outburst in the fourth round of the Australian Open against Nishikori, he could not win a match, injured or not, until Roland Garros, where the injury bug has hit again. The hard courts of the American summer swing have been kind to him the past, and maybe he can find his form again there. However, he has a long way to go from where he is now.

Karen Khachanov

After a stunning end to his 2018 which saw him capture the Moscow title and then the final Masters 1000 event of the year in Paris over Novak Djokovic, Karen Khachanov was tipped by many to continue his breakout run of form into 2019. However, this was to be further from the truth. Aside from flashes in his run to the quarters in Indian Wells, Khachanov has struggled to even win matches in tournaments this year, only getting past the first opponent in four tournaments this year, which surprisingly, were all either Masters 1000s or the Australian Open. He hasn’t been able to lift his game in smaller tournaments and has been struggling both with his serve and forehand all year, not winning enough service games at 80%, a lower number than guys like De Minaur and Pouille. The Russian has the tools to succeed, with a good serve (when confident) and a strong backhand but needs to stay confident and defend his forehand as well as he can.

Let us know down below anyone we may have missed or errantly included. Enjoy the rest of Roland Garros and get ready for the grass season!

Grass Court Week 1 Preview- s’-Hertogenbosch and Stuttgart

And after what seemed like an interminable school year and time away from the blog, I am back, just in time for the grass court season! The clay events have been quite interesting, especially Roland Garros, and they have set us up for an eventful second half of the year, with some intriguing storylines. However, the grass court season quickly approaches, and it starts out with two 250 tournaments on the calendar, the long running Libema Open in s’-Hertogenbosch, and the MercedesCup in Stuttgart.

Libema Open- ATP 250

The rapidly rising Grecian Stefanos Tsitsipas will complete his turnaround from Roland Garros and head to the Netherlands to get an early run in on the grass courts in s’-Hertogenbosch. He has already played 40 matches in advance of Roland Garros, and this number will undoubtedly rise depending on his progress in the second week. It seems as if the young talent would need some rest, but he will join a good field including last years champion and finalist, Richard Gasquet and Jeremy Chardy respectively, as well as a few talented players looking for form, in the likes of David Goffin, Frances Tiafoe, Alex de Minaur, and Grigor Dimitrov.

MercedesCup- ATP 250

A noticeable hole is evident in the entry list for the opening event in Stuttgart this year; Roger Federer. After struggling a bit to keep healthy, having to withdraw in Rome in advance of his quarterfinal matchup with the aforementioned Stefanos Tsitsipas, he has decided to skip the first week of the grass entirely in order to recuperate after what has been a successful first Roland Garros back for him. This does not mean the field will not be interesting, as the top two seed will be the Russian duo of Khachanov and Medvedev, joined by last years finalist Milos Raonic. The Canadian had to sit out parts of the clay season due to a knee problem, but is aiming for a return to what seems to be his favorite surface, with his best success coming on the grass at Wimbledon. Other intriguing players in the draw include Gael Monfils, a struggling Denis Shapovalov and his compatriot Felix Auger-Aliassime, the ever mercurial Nick Kyrgios, who is so ever excited to be back on grass, and the rerising elite players in Stan Wawrinka and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Thank you all for coming back to read, and get ready to enjoy the wonderful upcoming tennis, and my accompanying reports and previews!

Update 3/12

Hello readers,

Sadly, due to immense schoolwork, and my own tennis season that has begun, I will not be able to continually put effort into my match summaries, weekly roundups, and other special features. In short, I will hope to return to normal coverage for the grass court season! Everyone enjoy the spring of tennis we have coming up, and I will see you all soon.

Rio, Marseille, Delray Beach Review

Rio de Janeiro- ATP 500

Laslo Djere captures the biggest title of his career, and makes a big jump in the ATP Rankings as well.

Laslo Djere was the last man standing in Rio after a wild week from start to finish, taking home ATP Tour title number one, and moving to a career high 37th in the world.

His 6-3, 7-5 win against Felix Auger-Aliassime, the young Canadian who had captured the fans hearts in Rio after donning his own custom Brazilian soccer jersey after his quarterfinal win, was an absolute slog in the Brazilian summer heat. Both players looked nervous to start the match, consistently trading breaks of serve, until Djere was able to hold and break Felix to go up 4-1, where he then cruised to the first. However, Djere began to grab at his leg, possibly due to the heat, but it did not faze him. After being down a break early in the second, he was able to break back at 2-3*, and then stay alive until 6-5*, where FAA, down his 5th match point, dumped a forehand into the net.

Djere moves up to 37th in the world, while FAA has to be happy with his performance during the week too, moving to a career high 60th position in the world, at only 18 years old.

Marseille- ATP 250

Stefanos Tsitsipas continues his blazing start to the year.

Stefanos Tsitsipas captured a career high spot in the ATP Rankings, and title number two in his career by winning the Open 13 in Marseille, defeating Mikhail Kukushkin 7-5, 7-6(5) on Sunday.

Tsitsipas consistently held well in Set 1, and was putting pressure on Kukushkin in his service games, however he could not find the breakthrough until 6-5, where on set point, used his forehand to probe an error out of the Kazakhstani for a one set advantage. The second set was even tighter, with Kukushkin thinking he had control of the set by breaking at 2-2*, and getting to a service game for the set at 5*-4. However, Tsitsipas broke back there, and used the trusty forehand to open up opportunities in the tiebreak which he converted into a title.

Tsitsipas will hit 11th in the world, a career high for the Greek, while Kukushkin will also reach a career high of 39th in the world.

Delray Beach- ATP 250

Radu Albot makes Moldova proud with his maiden ATP Tour title.

A battle that no one saw coming this week had Radu Albot, the pride of his nation of Moldova, defeating qualifier Dan Evans in a tight three setter, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(7). This was the first tour title for Albot, and will propel him to a career high as a result.

Evans is compared in playstyle to Roger Federer for a reason, as his one handed backhand was full of spin as he jumped out to a set lead over Albot. However, the tables were flipped in the second set, as Albot started to solve the Evans backhand and continually press balls deep into the court to even the match up. Albot got an early break in the third and all seemed right, except at that moment, the skies opened up, and play was delayed for an hour. Evans came back after the delay with renewed vigor, breaking back at 3-4*, and forcing a deciding tiebreak. With two match points at 6-4 in the breaker for Evans, he choked both, including a backhand putaway volley that sailed just wide to let Albot back in, and at 7*-8, the Brit double faulted to hand Albot the 2019 Delray Beach title.

Albot is up to a career high 52 in the world, while the previously suspended Evans continues his comeback, moving to 105 in the world.