There was a pleasant surprise over the passed weekend, his name was Feliciano López. Not too many were expecting him to get passed the players he beat – who happen to have games best suited for the lawn (Jérémy Chardy, Tomáš Berdych, Grigor Dimitrov, and Marin Čilić)…all except for the French man it would be argued. López was unseeded at the AEGON Championships in Queens, London, and managed to secure a third title on grass in his career by beating the tall Croatian Čilić in a marathon Final 4-6 7-6(2) 7-6 (10-8). His first grass court title was back in 2013 in Eastbourne after beating Gilles Simon, a title he defended by beating Richard Gasquet.
As prepared as one would think he appears to be for The All England Club, his results there in previous years have not been those to write home about. Apart from his most recent Quarter-Final appearance in 2011 (where he played against the current World number 1 Andy Murray and lost); he has never since been able to breakthrough to being part of the last 4 in the second week of the Major.
Roger Federer‘s 9th title in Halle came at very little surprise because it is one event he has enjoyed playing at prior to Wimbledon over the years. With one Major already this season under his belt, there is no doubt he will be confident of his chances to bag an 8th Wimbledon title as well.
Novak Djokovic is the Top seed in Eastbourne (The Aegon International) this week; a pre-Wimbledon event he has never played. In fact, he has not been one known to play before Wimbledon, but sees this time around as one where he may have to employ new things – in the hope that his results may improve and get back to his high standards, the standard he has been used to for the passed 5, 6 years. Djokovic said that the events in Queens and Halle came too soon after the transition from the clay, so he opted for Eastbourne instead. The Serbian and current World number 4 is looking for a fourth Wimbledon trophy.
Angelique Kerber will also make the field in Eastbourne this week. She is also one struggling for form, and that has been particularly difficult for her to deal with because when confident and in form, she is one of the most consistent players on Tour. She has the stamina to play a lot of matches within a season, and win most; subsequent to that, still be able to compete and string solid performances at the Year-End Championships as part of the Top 8 players of the season.
The German has twice been a runner-up in Eastbourne in 2012 and 2014, and has won Birmingham in 2015. She will be hoping to defend runner-up points at Wimbledon this season. She lost in straight sets in last season’s Final against Serena Williams 5-7 3-6. Recently though, she has only won 2 matches from her previous 6, dating back to Stuttgart. The losses came against Kristina Mladenovic, Eugenie Bouchard, Annet Kontaveit, and Ekaterina Makarova.
Kerber plays the younger twin Kristýna Plíšková in the second round. She advanced passed the local Naomi Broady. She has only lost 2 matches in her last 10 so far (Plíšková).
Andy Murray – despite a drop in the kind of results that would back up being atop the rankings this season, Murray has maintained that the number 1 ranking has not been a burden for him. He admits that he always feels the pressure at Wimbledon, understandably so since it’s home for him. Should he successfully defend his title, he will remain the World’s best player; but it is worrying that he just lost in the opening round versus Jordan Thompson (Queens Club), leaving fans stunned. This time last season, he was 33 and 6 in wins/losses.
Some WTA Eastbourne results – The American Laura Davis beat the Slovak Kristína Kučová in the first round. Her toughest challenge yet will come in the second round when she plays the 8th seeded Agnieszka Radwańska. Reigning French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko, seeded 10th this week, beat Carla Suárez Navarro in a weird match where she won the opening set by 6 games to 3 and lost the second 0-6.
Last year’s runner-up Karolina Plíšková is seeded third. Her second round win was against Alison Riske. She dominated behind her first serve, though she record 6 double faults on the day. She still could improve in defending her second serve.
21 year old Elise Mertens played Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova(14). It was a good effort by her to win the opening set, but she lost the next two. Heather Watson knocked out the fourth seed and defending champion Dominika Cibulková 7-5 6-4, following her first round win versus the tricky Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko.
Peng Shuai‘s draw does not look easy, but the Chinese has the game for this surface. She beat Francesca Schiavone (who is playing her last season on Tour) and will face Timea Bacsinszky(15) next.
