Wimbledon 2024

[Rafa Maciel 1,592]

The biggest tennis jamboree gets underway on Monday and whilst I wont have the luxury of watching the majority of it, I'll be keeping a close eye on as many of the matches as I can.

 

Quick rundown of the Brits taking part:

 

Men's Qualifying:

Felix Gill (#306) - Wildcard entry was beaten in the first round by 30th seed  Emilio Nava (#136)

Ryan Peniston (#266) - Beaten in the first round by  Benjamin Bonzi (#152)

George Loffhagen (#754) - Wildcard entry got through a tough 3 set first round match but fell in the second round to 5th seed  Lloyd Harris (#91)

Jack Pinnington Jones (#639) - Wildcard entry soundly beaten in the first round by  Lucas Pouille (#213)

Jay Clarke (#322) - Wildcard took out Diego Schwartzman in the first round but was on the wrong end of a tight 3 setter in round 2, going out at the hands of  Quentin Halys (#223)

Stuart Parker (#561) - Wildcard entry lost in the first round to  Patrick Kypson (#142)

Anton Matusevich (#434) - Wildcard entry beaten in the first round by  Tomas Barrios Vera (#196)

Oliver Crawford (#217) - Former American, he was a little unlucky with the draw coming up against 20th seed veteran  Richard Gasquet (#126) in the first round, losing in 2 sets.

 

 

Ladies Qualifying:

Mika Stojsavljevic (#654) - Wildcard entry was beaten in the first round by  Selena Janicijevic (#223)

Sonay Kartal (#295) - Wildcard entry has made it to the main draw. This will be her 3rd time at Winmbledon, but she is yet to win a main draw match.

Emily Appleton (#353) - Wildcard entry lost in the first round to  Elsa Jacquemot (#151)

Amelia Rajecki (#740) - Wildcard entry unsurprisingly beaten in the first round by 7th seed  Arina Rodionova (#101)

Mingge Xu (#692) - Wildcard entry lost in the first round to  Ipek Oz (#260)

Katy Dunne (#331) - Wildcard entry beaten in the first round in tight 3 sets by  Tena Lukas (#224)

Hannah Klugman (#623) - There were high hopes for last year's Orange Bowl winner and to an extent, she didn't disappoint, making it to the final round of qualifying before coming unstuck against  Alycia Parks (#121)

Amarni Banks (#258) - Wildcard entry did well to make it to the final round of qualifying, but ran out of steam against  Marina Stakusic (#164)

 

Overall, a pretty disappointing qualifying campaign by the Brits with just a couple of exceptions. 

 

Edited June 29 by Rafa Maciel

[Rafa Maciel 1,592]

Main Draw Participants:

 

Ladies Singles:

Francesca Jones (#217) v  Petra Martic (#74). Martic got to 3rd round last year but hasn't had great season in the Grand Slams this year. She qualified for main draw at Eastbourne before losing to Katie Boulter in the round of 32. Fran Jones got to the Quarter-final of Nottingham Open before withdrawing as precaution. In that run, Jones took out 8th seed Caroline Dolehide. Martic will start as favourite, but I think Jones has a good chance of pulling of an upset. The winner will be guaranteed centre court billing in round 2 as they will likely be up against  Iga Swiatek (at which point their championship will come to an end ).

 

Katie Boulter (#32) v  Tatjana Maria (#61). Boulter has played a lot of grass court tennis this season with the sole aim of doing enough to be seeded here at Wimbledon and she got her wish as she is seeded 32. She got to the 3rd round last year and there is every reason to think that she will be able to match that this year. Having retained her title in Nottingham and reaching the quarter-finals at Eastbourne, she will start this match as heavy favourite and could set up and British second round. A potential 3rd round against 5th seed  Jessica Pegula will be where the draw starts to get difficult.

 

Harriet Dart (#105) v  Bai Zhuoxuan (#92). Like Boulter, Dart has been playing a lot of tennis in the grass court season to the point that she is carrying a knee niggle picked up at Eastbourne. The draw has been relatively kind to her and she should start the match as favourite. 

 

Emma Raducanu (#168) v 22nd seed  Ekaterina Alexandrova (#22). Alexandrova got to the 4th round here in 2023 but hasn't made it out of the 1st round at the last 2 slams. Alexandrova reached the semi-final at S'Hertogenbosch before losing in the 2nd round at both Berlin and Bad Homburg Open. Raducanu skipped the French Open to concentrate on preparing for the grass court season and it seems to have paid off. She reached the semi-final in Nottingham. She was well placed to take the win against Boulter and was unlucky that it was called off after the first set. At Eastbourne, she got her first win over a top ten player when she took out  Jessica Pegula in the second round. Alexandrova probably starts as the favourite but Raducan could pull a surprise.

 

Yuriko Lily Miyazaki (#148) v  Tamara Korpatsch (#75). Korpatsch will start as favourite despite having a mixed grass court season to date. She lost in the first round at S'Hertogenbosch and Berlin but reached the 2nd round at Bad Homburg.

 

Heather Watson (#196) v  Greet Minnen (#85). Having played doubles together at Birmingham, they should know each other's game pretty well. Minnen  reached the quarter-final at S'Hertogenbosch at came through qualifying at Eastbourne last week before losing in the first round to Jelena Ostapenko. Heather Watson on the other hand reached second round at Nottingham before losing in the first round at Birmingham Classic. This one could go either way but Watson will be hoping home support can help pull her through.

 

Sonay Kartal (#295) v 29th seed  Sorana Cirstea (#29) Kartal's reward for coming through qualifying is a 1st round match up against the 29th seed. Cirstea reached the 3rd round last year and will start as favourite but she isn't in great form having lost in the first round at both Birmingham Classic and Eastbourne. Kartal on the other hand has plenty of grass court tennis under her belt over the last couple of weeks so I wouldn't be too surprised if she pulls off a shock. 

[Rafa Maciel 1,592]

Men's Singles:

 

Arthur Fery (#243) v  Daniel Altmaier (#77) Fery has a string of first round defeats this season so unlikely that he'll be able to get past Altmaier but worth pointing out that Altmaier hasn't competed on grass so far this season.

 

Charles Broom (#245) v  Stan Wawrinka (#93) Expect this to be on one of the show courts. Broom reached the final of the Challenger in Nottingham before coming close to qualifying for the main draw in Eastbourne (he ultimately got promoted as a lucky loser). Unfortunately, he is likely to come up short against Wawrinka.

 

Liam Broady (#146) v  Botic van de Zandschulp (#96). Broady lost in the first round at Eastbourne whilst van de Zandschulp was out in the first round at S'Hertogenbosch. Broady will go into the match believing he has a decent chance of winning.

 

Jan Choinski (#174) v  Luciano Darderi (#37). Darderi recently won a challenger event in Perugia so his confidence is riding high whilst Choinski's form hasn't been great recently.

 

Dan Evans (#61) v 24th seed  Alejandro Tabilo (#24). Evans picked up an injury at Queens and had to withdraw from his first round match. He isn't in the best form whereas Tabilo is in the final of the Mallorca Championships.

 

Jack Draper (#28) v  Elias Ymer (#206). Jack Draper is the only Brit to be seeded this year after taking his first title in Stuttgart. He followed that up with quarter-final at Queens. He should be able to dispatch Ymer fairly easily and there's a possibility of all British second round.

 

Cameron Norrie (#44) v  Facundo Diaz Acosta (#67). Norrie seems to be in a bit of a spiral and his ranking is only heading in the wrong direction. His form is pretty dire of late - highlighted by a defeat at the hands of Jack Pinnington Jones at the challenger in Nottingham. That was followed by first round losses at both Queens and Eastbourne. Grass isn't the natural surface for Diaz Acosta but he will probably start as favourite.

 

Henry Searle (#568) v  Marcos Giron (#46). Giron has reached the second round at Eastbourne and Stuttgart and the quarter-final at Halle. That being said, Searle won the boy's championships last year and so far, this grass court season he has come through qualifying at Eastbourne and the Nottingham challengers and reached the final of ITF event in Nottingham. Giron will start as firm favourite.

 

Andy Murray (#115) v  Tomas Machac (#38). Think there is a good chance Murray will withdraw before the tournament gets under way given the recent procedure on his back. It's a shame if this really was going to be his Wimbledon swansong.

 

Billy Harris (#139) v  Jaume Munar (#63). Billy Harris is the BBC's new darling of tennis given his back story. (FWIW I think it's great he is getting some great results, but I am getting tired of hearing about his transit van). His confidence will be sky high after reaching the semi-final at Eastbourne and I think he could have a great chance of taking Munar out. Munar's only grass court match this year ended in defeat at Mallorca Championship.

 

Paul Jubb (#289) v  Thiago Seyboth Wild (#74). Jubb hasn't had a great grass court season losing early at both Queens and the Nottingham challenger. His best performance came in Surbiton where he qualified and made the second round. Seyboth Wild got to the second round at Eastbourne.

 

Jacob Fearnley (#271) v  Alejandro Moro Canas (#189). Fearnley won challenger at Nottingham before losing out in the first round at Eastbourne. Moro Canas on the other hand failed to qualify in Ilkley. 

[TeamGB 156]

Personally I think only qualifying 1 Brit isn't that disappointing given how many wildcards are given out to British players. 

[mpjmcevoy 362]

4 hours ago, Rafa Maciel said:

The biggest tennis jamboree gets underway on Monday and whilst I wont have the luxury of watching the majority of it, I'll be keeping a close eye on as many of the matches as I can.

 

Quick rundown of the Brits taking part:

 

Men's Qualifying:

Felix Gill (#306) - Wildcard entry was beaten in the first round by 30th seed  Emilio Nava (#136)

Ryan Peniston (#266) - Beaten in the first round by  Benjamin Bonzi (#152)

George Loffhagen (#754) - Wildcard entry got through a tough 3 set first round match but fell in the second round to 5th seed  Lloyd Harris (#91)

Jack Pinnington Jones (#639) - Wildcard entry soundly beaten in the first round by  Lucas Pouille (#213)

Jay Clarke (#322) - Wildcard took out Diego Schwartzman in the first round but was on the wrong end of a tight 3 setter in round 2, going out at the hands of  Quentin Halys (#223)

Stuart Parker (#561) - Wildcard entry lost in the first round to  Patrick Kypson (#142)

Anton Matusevich (#434) - Wildcard entry beaten in the first round by  Tomas Barrios Vera (#196)

Oliver Crawford (#217) - Former American, he was a little unlucky with the draw coming up against 20th seed veteran  Richard Gasquet (#126) in the first round, losing in 2 sets.

 

 

Ladies Qualifying:

Mika Stojsavljevic (#654) - Wildcard entry was beaten in the first round by  Selena Janicijevic (#223)

Sonay Kartal (#295) - Wildcard entry has made it to the main draw. This will be her 3rd time at Winmbledon, but she is yet to win a main draw match.

Emily Appleton (#353) - Wildcard entry lost in the first round to  Elsa Jacquemot (#151)

Amelia Rajecki (#740) - Wildcard entry unsurprisingly beaten in the first round by 7th seed  Arina Rodionova (#101)

Mingge Xu (#692) - Wildcard entry lost in the first round to  Ipek Oz (#260)

Katy Dunne (#331) - Wildcard entry beaten in the first round in tight 3 sets by  Tena Lukas (#224)

Hannah Klugman (#623) - There were high hopes for last year's Orange Bowl winner and to an extent, she didn't disappoint, making it to the final round of qualifying before coming unstuck against  Alycia Parks (#121)

Amarni Banks (#258) - Wildcard entry did well to make it to the final round of qualifying, but ran out of steam against  Marina Stakusic (#164)

 

Overall, a pretty disappointing qualifying campaign by the Brits with just a couple of exceptions. 

 

Not sure how disappointing it is really - look at the rankings - every single one of them (bar Kartal) was eliminated by a player ranked significantly higher than them - some comically so - and a LOT of GB players better than these get wild cards who would otherwise be in qualifying, and some of whom would likely have made it. Having seen a few of the matches, Loffhagen, Banks and Klugman actually outplayed their ranking a bit (you'd expect Klugman to, to be fair)

[Rafa Maciel 1,592]

17 minutes ago, mpjmcevoy said:

Not sure how disappointing it is really - look at the rankings - every single one of them (bar Kartal) was eliminated by a player ranked significantly higher than them - some comically so - and a LOT of GB players better than these get wild cards who would otherwise be in qualifying, and some of whom would likely have made it. Having seen a few of the matches, Loffhagen, Banks and Klugman actually outplayed their ranking a bit (you'd expect Klugman to, to be fair)

To be clear, I think the women did pretty well 3 getting to the final round - that's an improvement on last year - and Klugman is going to spearhead the next generation of British players.

 

My comment was more geared towards the men's side of things. Only 2 players got through their first round compared to 4 last year.

[Rafa Maciel 1,592]

Emma Raducanu gets a big boost ahead of her 1st round as 22nd seed Ekaterina Alexandrova has withdrawn with illness.

 

Raducanu now faces a lucky loser - #98  Renata Zarazua. 

[Rafa Maciel 1,592]

Heather Watson becomes first Brit to fall, losing to her doubles partner in straight sets - 7-5 6-4. Watson didn't win a point until the 3rd game of the first set but she came back pretty strongly in the first set winning 4 games in a row to lead 5-4. Ultimately, Minnen was able to raise her game enough to break back and take the set.

 

The second set was close but Watson paid the price for some erratic serving.

[Rafa Maciel 1,592]

After defeats for Watson, Broady, Broom and Frey, Raducanu becomes first Brit to progress to the second round with an entertaining 7-6 6-4 victory over the Mexican luck loser Renata Zarazua. That was quickly followed by an excellent win for Lily Miyazaki who came through comfortably 6-2 6-1 over  Tamara Korpatsch.

 

Worth saying that it's only day 1 but the quarter of the draw that Raducanu is in has already started to open up with the withdrawal of Sabalenka and the defeat of 6th seed  Zheng Qinwen.

[mpjmcevoy 362]

British qualifier Sonny Kortal has eliminated a seed, through to round 2!