LONDON: Andrey Rublev crashed out of Wimbledon at the first hurdle on Tuesday, going down in four sets to Argentina’s Francisco Comesana.
The Russian sixth seed battled back after losing the first set but lost momentum early in the third and went down to a 6-4, 5-7, 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) defeat.
Rublev, who reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals last year, struggled for consistency on his serve and was broken four times in the match by his opponent, ranked 122nd in the world.
The 26-year-old, who smashed his racquet repeatedly against his knee in frustration in the third set, is the highest-seeded men’s player to exit the Championships so far.
Comesana will face Australia’s Adam Walton for a place in the last 32.
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Rublev crashes out in Wimbledon first round
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Rublev crashes out in Wimbledon first round
- The Russian sixth seed battled back after losing the first set
Djokovic into Wimbledon third round after rookie scare
- Djokovic triumphed 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 7-5 but had to save two break points midway through the fourth set before seeing off the challenge of the world number 277
- “I had never seen him play so there is always the element of surprise,” admitted Djokovic
LONDON: Seven-time Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic was made to fight by British outsider Jacob Fearnley before reaching the third round for the 18th time on Thursday.
Djokovic triumphed 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 7-5 but had to save two break points midway through the fourth set before seeing off the challenge of the world number 277.
“I had never seen him play so there is always the element of surprise,” admitted Djokovic.
“He had nothing to lose and served well. I was a little lucky in the fourth set. I could have won the match in three and it could have gone to a fifth.
“The way he was playing, I’m glad it didn’t.”
The 37-year-old Djokovic had cruised through the first two sets on Center Court against a player who was making his Grand Slam debut this week.
He was a break up in the third to lead 3-2 but Fearnley, who was still playing university tennis in the United States last month, retrieved the break immediately.
He then rode the momentum to claim the third set.
Fearnley forced the 24-time Grand Slam champion to save two break points in the sixth game of the fourth set.
Djokovic made the Briton pay for his failure to convert the advantage and gained a final crucial break in the 11th game before serving out the match.
“I didn’t really feel comfortable in my own skin in the third and fourth sets,” said Djokovic.
“But sometimes you have rough days when you don’t feel your best. It’s a win and I’ll take it.”
Djokovic fired 34 winners past Fearnley, whose 42 winners were canceled out by an unforced error count of 49.
World number two Djokovic will take on Australia’s Alexei Popyrin for a place in the last 16.
Murray teams up with Raducanu in Wimbledon British dream team
- The pair were Wednesday granted a wild card just a day after Murray, 37, pulled out of the singles
- The two-time Wimbledon singles champion will also play men’s doubles with his brother Jamie at the All England Club
LONDON: Andy Murray is teaming up with Emma Raducanu at Wimbledon in an eye-catching all-British mixed doubles pairing as part of his emotional farewell to the tournament.
The pair were Wednesday granted a wild card just a day after Murray, 37, pulled out of the singles due to his failure to regain full fitness following a back operation.
The two-time Wimbledon singles champion will also play men’s doubles with his brother Jamie at the All England Club, launching their campaign on Center Court on Thursday.
The mixed doubles event starts the following day.
Murray played mixed doubles with Serena Williams in 2019, making it to the third round, but it will be a Grand Slam debut in doubles for Raducanu.
The Scot, who has been ravaged by injuries in recent years, was asked after practice on Wednesday how the new doubles pairing had come about.
“Yesterday I was chatting to my team, they were discussing mixed and then last night I messaged her coach and just said, ‘Look, do you think this is something that maybe she’d be up for doing?’” he said.
Raducanu was quick to accept the proposal from the former world number one.
“Thankfully I got quite a quick reply,” said Murray. “It was quite late yesterday evening when I sent the message, it would have been after nine, so I was a bit worried she might be in bed, but I got a quick reply. She said, ‘Yeah, let’s do it’.”
Speaking earlier this week, Raducanu, the 2021 US Open champion, said teaming up with Murray at Wimbledon was “a childhood dream.”
Murray, now ranked 113th in the world, said despite his new partner’s inexperience, she would be well-suited to the format.
“She’s obviously unbelievably competitive and likes playing in the big stadiums and stuff with crowds so I expect she’ll deal with that really well,” he said.
He added: “She’s a brilliant returner and great ball striker so I’d imagine she’ll deal with returning guys’ serves well. And, when she’s getting into exchanges at the back of the court, she’ll be really good.”
The British pair face a tough opening contest against Marcelo Arevalo and Zhang Shuai.
El Salvador’s Arevalo last month won the men’s doubles title for the second time at the French Open while China’s Zhang is also a two-time Grand Slam doubles champion.
Raducanu eased into the third round of the Wimbledon singles with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Elize Mertens on Wednesday.
Wimbledon rookie takes aim at Djokovic after beating Alcaraz and Sinner
- Fearnley won his first Grand Slam match on debut on Tuesday; it was also his first win of any kind on the main tour
- Djokovic admitted he knows absolutely nothing about Fearnley
LONDON: Not many players can boast victories over Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner but British rookie Jacob Fearnley has notched up that impressive double and now looks for a third in the shape of Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon.
Fearnley’s wins over reigning Wimbledon champion Alcaraz and world No. 1 Sinner came in his junior days.
Since then, their career paths have taken radically different directions — Alcaraz and Sinner are winning Grand Slams and banking millions of dollars while Fearnley headed to university in the US.
“I played Alcaraz when he was maybe 14, I was 17. Sinner, I played him maybe when we were 15,” said 22-year-old Fearnley on Tuesday.
“Obviously the strides they’ve taken in their games have been a lot more than myself. The way they’re playing, it’s unbelievable.
“I don’t think I can really take anything from those victories.”
Fearnley won his first Grand Slam match on debut on Tuesday; it was also his first win of any kind on the main tour.
Before seeing off Spain’s Alejandro Moro Canas 7-5, 6-4, 7-6 (14/12), his only professional match on the ATP tour came in Eastbourne last week where he was a first-round loser.
The week before, however, he illustrated his prowess on grass courts by coming out of qualifying to win a second-tier Challenger event in Nottingham.
“It’s a bit crazy,” said Fearnley, the world No. 277.
He was referring to a month which also saw him help Texas Christian University win the national championships in the US at the end of his five-year college career.
Fearnley has already faced one Wimbledon giant in his time — at the 2018 tournament, he was drafted in as a hitting partner for Roger Federer.
“That was really cool. He’s a super nice guy. Obviously a really, really special player. I learned a lot of things from those brief practice sessions,” he said.
Now he faces comfortably one of the most daunting tasks in the sport — trying to defeat seven-time Wimbledon champion Djokovic in the second round on Thursday.
“I have no idea,” said Fearnley when asked how he planned to author a seismic victory over a man who has won 24 Grand Slam titles.
“I’ve watched so many videos of him. It doesn’t look like there’s many flaws in his game. I’m going to just try and enjoy it, put my game out on the court and see what happens.”
Djokovic admitted he knows absolutely nothing about Fearnley.
“I haven’t seen him hit. So I’ll have to do my homework,” said the Serb.
Earlier Tuesday, Djokovic started his bid to capture a record-equalling eighth Wimbledon men’s title with a straight-sets win over Czech qualifier Vit Kopriva in his first match since undergoing knee surgery.
Djokovic eased to a 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 victory in a shade under two hours on Center Court against his 123rd-ranked rival.
The 37-year-old did not face a break point in the entire match, which he sealed with three aces.
Djokovic, chasing a record 25th Grand Slam title, wore a grey support on his right knee after undergoing surgery on a torn meniscus, which had forced him to withdraw from the French Open after the fourth round last month.
“It was very good. I was very pleased with the way I moved on the court today,” said Djokovic after taking his Wimbledon first-round record to 19-0.
“Obviously coming into Wimbledon this year, it was a little bit of a different circumstance for me because of the knee.
“I didn’t know how everything was going to unfold on the court really.
“Practice sessions are quite different to official match play, so I’m just extremely glad about the way I played and the way I felt today.”
Djokovic added that his grey knee support had passed the All England Club’s stringent rules over all-white playing gear.
“Of course, we did check in the days prior if we have a permission. We’re trying to find a white one, trust me,” he explained.
Ons Jabeur: I’ve separated having a baby from winning a Grand Slam
- In an exclusive chat with Arab News in southwest London, the Tunisian tennis star reveals her new approach as she hopes to be third time lucky at Wimbledon
LONDON: When Ons Jabeur arrived here for Wimbledon last week, she felt “a bit sad.”
The Tunisian history-maker has enjoyed remarkable success but also suffered her greatest disappointments on Wimbledon’s center court. It is understandable that her heart-wrenching defeat in the final 12 months ago still stings.
It was Jabeur’s second consecutive appearance in the Wimbledon final and she was considered the favorite against Marketa Vondrousova, who had far less experience on grass entering the contest.
But the Czech lefty was ice cold and handed a nervous and frazzled Jabeur a straight-sets loss to secure a maiden Grand Slam crown.
“A lot of last year’s memories came to my mind. I felt like crying a little bit,” Jabeur told Arab News of how she felt upon returning to the fabled All England Club last week.
“But at the end I just remembered that this is the place that I want to be, at such an amazing tournament. I feel so much love here, so much respect.
Who else is as excited as Ons for The Championships to start tomorrow? #Wimbledon | @Ons_Jabeur pic.twitter.com/MGgF7dU1rR
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) June 30, 2024
“I don’t think I feel that much love and respect anywhere else. It’s so amazing to be here. I don’t want to take for granted any moment that I’m here. I want to enjoy every second of being here at Wimbledon.”
For a second there, one senses a hint of uncertainty in Jabeur’s words. Is she implying she might not be coming back too many times to SW19 in the future?
“I’m not saying I’m retiring or anything. But you don’t know what could happen in the future. So for me, I really try to see the positive side of it,” said the North African, who turns 30 next month.
“I’m trying to see that from millions of players, I’m one of the players that could play here at Wimbledon. That’s really amazing to remember and that’s really amazing to be grateful for.”
In the documentary “This is me,” produced and released by Tod TV earlier this year, Jabeur revealed the reason behind her crumbling under the pressure in last year’s championship decider.
Married to former fencer Karim Kamoun since 2015, Jabeur revealed that she wants to start a family. But she has found it difficult to walk away from the tour while performing so well. She is now ranked No. 10, but at one stage she was at No. 2 in the world.
She felt that the 2023 Wimbledon final was her chance. “I win that (final) I could have a baby right away. And that dream faded. I was haunted by fear,” confessed Jabeur in the documentary.
A year on from that tough experience, Jabeur finds herself once again on the hallowed turf of the All England Club, ready for another shot at the sport’s most prestigious trophy.
She believes her mindset has changed and is adopting a different approach to this Wimbledon fortnight. “One thing I finally came to terms with is I separated having a baby from winning a Grand Slam,” she explained.
“Because they were both in the same line, which was wrong and a bit tough on myself.
“So I’m like, it’s okay, it’s out of my control, when to have the Grand Slam. I’m not going to put a timeline on it. That also released a little bit the pressure that I have on myself.
“But also accepting what I’m doing; I know I’m doing everything 100 percent. I have a team behind me that’s always supporting me and I’m going to leave 100 percent on the court. And if it comes, it comes, and if not, I know I have no regrets because I tried everything.”
One of the most memorable moments from last year’s tournament was when Jabeur wept during the trophy ceremony, showing the world how painful that loss was, and what a Wimbledon win really meant to her.
She was consoled by Kate Middleton, the princess of Wales, who like many around the world, looked truly moved by Jabeur’s tears.
That was Jabeur’s third defeat in a Grand Slam final (she also fell in the title decider at the 2022 US Open).
Her tearful moment on court was reminiscent of the emotional speech Andy Murray gave when he lost the Wimbledon final to Roger Federer in 2012.
It was the Brit’s fourth loss at that stage at a major but he went on to capture three Grand Slams, two of which came at the All England Club.
“I know he lost a few times in Grand Slam finals and I saw him when he won here, twice actually, which was amazing. And he won the Olympics as well here,” said Jabeur of Murray’s exploits on home soil.
“What he did and how he bounced back and won it was really unbelievable. And I hope that would be also the fairytale for me as well, how my story ends kind of.”
While Jabeur can draw inspiration from Murray’s story, there is another Andy she is keen to consult with — whom she has admired since she was a young girl.
“I’ve been actually thinking about Andy Roddick, how he lost it (the Wimbledon final) so many times and didn’t get to win it,” she said.
“I was meaning to text him and tell him: ‘If you had to change one thing and do it differently, what would you do?’ I’m still hesitating if I should do that or not.”
As she gets set to begin her Wimbledon campaign against Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima on Tuesday, with an eye on making the final for a third straight year, perhaps a call to Roddick cannot hurt.
Alcaraz, Sinner and Gauff open Wimbledon campaigns in style
- Spanish holder Alcaraz eases into second round
- Top seed Sinner gets through in four sets
- Belarusians Sabalenka, Azarenka pull out injured
LONDON: For the last 50 weeks, Carlos Alcaraz knew the exact date and time he would walk back on Center Court to open the defense of his Wimbledon title and the Spaniard kept his goosebumps in check on Monday to book his place in the second round.
While injury woes have plagued many of the players who have also hoisted the Challenge Cup in recent years — with question marks over the participation of Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray — Alcaraz showed he was fighting fit despite a less than ideal buildup to the grasscourt major.
The third seed, who admitted he even gets nervous practicing on the spiritual home of grasscourt tennis, beat fellow 21-year-old, Estonian qualifier Mark Lajal, 7-6(3) 7-5 6-2 on an overcast day in southwest London.
“Stepping on this court, it’s the most beautiful court I’ve played on. I still get nerves when I’m playing here,” Alcaraz, whose Queen’s Club title defense ended with an early exit last month, said courtside.
“I played for 45 minutes here on Thursday and it’s the first time I get nervous practicing. I’m glad and I’m a privileged guy to play on this court.
“When I walk around, I get goosebumps. I remember last year and that was a great feeling.”
World No. 1 and top seed Jannik Sinner suffered a mid-match injury scare after a slip and was briefly troubled by Germany’s Yannick Hanfmann before winning 6-3 6-4 3-6 6-3 to set up a mouth-watering all-Italian clash against 2021 runner-up Matteo Berrettini.
“That’s going to a big challenge for me,” Sinner said.
SEEDS SIDELINED
The opening day of the grasscourt Grand Slam saw several seeds pull out with injuries or illness — the highest-profile being women’s third seed Aryna Sabalenka who could not take to court because of a shoulder injury.
Fellow Belarusian and twice Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka also pulled out with a shoulder problem ahead of her match with 2017 US Open winner Sloane Stephens.
Sabalenka’s withdrawal removed one mighty obstacle for second seed Coco Gauff who concluded Center Court action on Monday with an impressive 6-1 6-2 defeat of fellow American Caroline Dolehide.
Former world No. 1 and four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka returned to Wimbledon after a five-year absence and came through a topsy-turvy clash against France’s Diane Parry, winning 6-1 1-6 6-4.
Fans flocking to the All England Club on Tuesday will hope seven-times champion Djokovic and Andy Murray, who ended Britain’s 77-year wait for a men’s Wimbledon champion when he won the first of his two titles in 2013, will both be fit enough to make their Center Court dates.
While second seed Djokovic had knee surgery last month, Murray is recovering from a procedure on his back just days ago and, with this year’s tournament expected to be his Wimbledon swansong, he is desperately hoping he can write the ending of his own script with one final rousing run on court.
Twice French Open runner-up Casper Ruud was another player delighted to be back on court after he was hit by a parasitic infection that kept him in bed for almost two weeks following his run to the Roland Garros semifinals last month.
Ruud matched his best result at the championships after he reached the second round by beating Australian qualifier Alex Bolt 7-6(2) 6-4 6-4.
Fifth seed Daniil Medvedev, beaten in the semifinals last year by Alcaraz, produced an assured 6-3 6-4 6-2 victory over American Aleksandar Kovacevic.
Men’s 10th seed Grigor Dimitrov continued his resurgence with a 6-3 6-4 7-5 win against Dusan Lajovic, while three-times Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka, at 39 the oldest man in the draw, rolled back the years with a 6-3 7-5 6-4 win over British wildcard Charles Broom.
Britain’s Emma Raducanu, who rocketed to fame by winning the 2021 US Open as a qualifier but has struggled to reach such heights since because of injuries, had England soccer idol David Beckham watching her from the Center Court royal box and she duly delivered an encouraging victory.
Wildcard Raducanu, 21, missed last year’s Wimbledon because of injury but opened her account with a battling 7-6(0) 6-3 win against Mexico’s Renata Zarazua.
Zarazua was a last-minute replacement for Russian 22nd seed Ekaterina Alexandrova who withdrew because of illness.
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