Wimbledon Daily Preview: A Unique Fortnight in London Begins on Monday - UBITENNIS
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Wimbledon Daily Preview: A Unique Fortnight in London Begins on Monday

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The All England Club is ready to host The Championships (twitter.com/wimbledon)

In the same year Wimbledon celebrates the 100th anniversary of Centre Court, it will stage The Championships under unique circumstances.  The AELTC has banned Russian and Belarusian players due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.  In retaliation, the ATP and WTA stripped this year’s tournament of its ranking points. 

 

There are some prominent names absent from Wimbledon in 2022, due to not only the ban, but also injuries.  They include Daniil Medvedev, Sascha Zverev, Aryna Sabalenka, and Andrey Rublev.  And most notably, eight-time champion Roger Federer will miss The Championships for the first time since his professional career began in 1998.

However, many other top names are present, and are eager to win this Major despite the lack of ranking points it normally comes with.  Six-time champion Novak Djokovic is looking to defend his title and procure his 21st Major.  That would move him just one Slam behind two-time champ Rafael Nadal, who is vying for her 23rd overall, and is currently halfway to the calendar year Grand Slam.  Another two-time champion, Andy Murray, would love to make his first deep run at a Major since 2017 on his favorite courts. 

The women’s singles draw is headlined by Roland Garros champion Iga Swiatek, who arrives on a phenomenal 35-match winning streak.  And 23-time Major champ Serena Williams returns for her 21st appearance at SW19, a full year since her last singles match, where she was forced to retire due to injury at the 2021 event.  The WTA draw also includes Wimbledon champions Simona Halep, Angelique Kerber, Garbine Muguruza, and Petra Kvitova.

Throughout the tournament, this preview will analyze the day’s five most prominent matches, while highlighting the other notable matches on the schedule.  Monday’s play begins at 11:00am local time.


Hubert Hurkacz (7) vs. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina – 11:00am on No.3 Court

Hurkacz should be considered one of the top contenders for this title.  He was a semifinalist a year ago, and is coming off a grass court title a week ago in Halle, where he defeated Felix Auger-Aliassime, Nick Kyrgios, and Daniil Medvedev.  However, this could be a tough first round draw for Hubi.  Ranked 38th in the world, Davidovich Fokina is the highest-ranked unseeded player in the draw.  And while he’s 0-1 at Wimbledon, he’s advanced to the second week of two other Majors on the other two surfaces.  And earlier this season, he was a finalist in Monte Carlo.  These players have split their four previous encounters.  The last two went to Hurkacz, though both went the distance.  On grass, Hubi is certainly the favorite.  Normally he would feel the pressure of defending semifinal points at a Slam for the first time, but that pressure has been lifted by the lack of ranking points this year.  And his formidable serving prowess will continue to be rewarded on this surface.


Ons Jabeur (3) vs. Mirjam Bjorklund (Q) – 1:00pm on No.1 Court

What a few months it’s been for Jabeur.  In Madrid, she captured her first WTA 1000 title.  A month later in Berlin, she was the champion on the grass of Berlin, where she overcame Coco Gauff and Belinda Bencic.  That run propelled her to a career-high ranking of No.3 in the world.  And this past week in Eastbourne, Serena Williams asked her to be her doubles partner, which Ons referred to as an honor.  But after two victories for that partnership, they withdrew from the event, citing a knee injury suffered by Jabeur.  Hopefully that was mostly precautionary, as a healthy Ons is one of the favorites this fortnight.  Her opponent on Monday is a 23-year-old qualifier who is looking for her first main draw win at a Major.  While Bjorklund won an ITF-level event on clay this April, this will be the first time she’s ever faced a top 40 player.  In the first match of The Championships on the mostly-pristine green grass of No.1 Court, Jabeur should easily prevail.


Novak Djokovic (1) vs. Soonwoo Kwon – 1:30pm on Centre Court

As per tradition, the defending men’s singles champion receives the honor of playing the first match of the fortnight on Centre Court.  Djokovic is vying for his fourth consecutive Wimbledon title, and has not lost at this event since 2017, when an injured Novak was forced to retire against Tomas Berdych.  He arrives at SW19 having not played any warmup events on grass, though that’s not abnormal for the 20-time Major champion.  Kwon is a 24-year-old who won his first ATP title last September in Nur-Sultan.  But he will be a huge underdog against Djokovic, as Soonwoo only possesses one career ATP victory on grass, which came during this tournament a year ago.   And in their only previous meeting, last year on clay in Belgrade, Novak prevailed with the loss of only four games.  The Serbian’s winning streak at The Championships does not feel like it’s in much jeopardy on Monday.


Jannik Sinner (16) vs. Stan Wawrinka (WC) – Third on No.2 Court

This may be the most highly-anticipated matchup on Day 1’s schedule.  Wawrinka is fighting to rediscover his form after missing over a year of action due to multiple foot surgeries.  Since returning to the tour in April, he’s gone just 3-4, yet has shown signs of the competitive level that made him a three-time Major champion.  In his absence, Sinner has become one of the ATP’s top performers.  The Italian accumulated 49 wins last season, moving him inside the top 10.  And Jannik has now achieved two Major quarterfinals.  However, grass is not either player’s favorite surface.  Wawrinka is only 20-15 lifetime at SW19, yet what’s most troubling is Sinner’s 0-4 career record on grass.  But asking Stan’s body to hold up in the best-of-five format against one of the sport’s best young players may be too tall a task this early in his comeback.  That leaves Jannik as the slight favorite to pick up his first victory on grass  And Sinner will certainly benefit from the coaching wisdom of Darren Cahill, who recently joined his team.


Emma Raducanu (10) vs. Alison Van Uytvanck – Second on Centre Court

It was a year ago at Wimbledon when Raducanu made her Major breakthrough at what was also her first tour-level event.  As a wild card ranked 338th in the world, Emma made a thrilling run to the second week.  Later that same summer, she made the most shocking run of all-time, coming through qualifying to win the US Open.  And she did so without dropping a set.  Now Raducanu returns to her home country’s Slam, with an indescribable amount of pressure and expectations on her.  In the fourth round last year, all that attention overwhelmed her, as she was forced to retire due to breathing issues.  Emma comes into this event without much confidence, as she’s only 7-10 on the year.  And Van Uytvanck is a threatening first round draw.  She’s also reached the fourth round of this tournament, back in 2018, and is a former French Open quarterfinalist.  And Alison is 12-2 on grass across the last four weeks at all levels, with two ITF titles during that span.  This matchup should be considered an upset alert on Day 1 of The Championships.


Other Notable Matches on Monday:

Casper Ruud (3) vs. Albert Ramos-Vinolas – Ruud is coming off his first Major final three weeks ago in Paris, but lost his only match on grass this season, and is 2-4 lifetime on this surface.  Ramos-Vinolas is 5-8 at Wimbledon, and has lost his last four matches at SW19.  They’ve met four times, all on clay, with three of those matches going to Ramos-Vinolas.

Anett Kontaveit (2) vs. Bernarda Pera – Kontaveit earned her No.2 seeding based on strong results outside the Majors, yet she’s 3-4 at the last four Slams, and is currently on a four-match losing streak.  Pera is a 27-year-old who is 0-3 at The Championships.

Carlos Alcaraz (5) vs. Jan-Lennard Struff – Alcaraz is a stellar 32-4 on the year, though he is 1-1 in his career on grass, and has been battling an elbow injury.  Struff reached the second week of this event in two of his last three appearances, but is only 2-12 in 2022, as he’s been struggling with a foot injury.  Struff defeated Alcaraz in the first round of last year’s Roland Garros in straight sets.

Angelique Kerber (15) vs. Kristina Mladenovic – The 2018 champion was a semifinalist here a year ago, though she’s a modest 11-10 this season.  Mladenovic won her fourth French Open doubles crown a few weeks ago, yet in singles, she’s 2-8 this year at tour level.  Kerber leads their head-to-head 4-2.

Andy Murray vs. James Duckworth – Murray advanced to the final of Stuttgart earlier this month, but had to withdraw from Queen’s Club due to an abdominal injury.  He’s 2-0 against 30-year-old Duckworth, with both victories coming on hard courts.


Monday’s full Order of Play is here.

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Stefanos Tsitsipas Benefitting From Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev’s Success

Stefanos Tsitsipas starts his Miami Open campaign against Richard Gasquet on Saturday.

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(@stathopoulosth - Twitter)

Stefanos Tsitsipas admits that he is benefitting from Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev’s recent success ahead of the Miami Open.

 

Tsitsipas had a good start to the season himself after reaching the Australian Open final before losing to Novak Djokovic.

However since then Tsitsipas’ form has tailed off as he continues to manage injuries.

The Greek has a lot of work to do to turn his form around ahead of the clay court season after his last set tiebreak defeat to Jordan Thompson in the second round of Indian Wells.

Tsitsipas’ turbulent form comes at a time where his nearest rivals are achieving great success in the tour with Carlos Alcaraz winning Indian Wells last week.

Meanwhile Daniil Medvedev was on a 19 match winning streak before losing the final at Indian Wells to Alcaraz.

Speaking to the media Tsitsipas says he is using Greek philosophy to help him believe that his rivals success will translate to his game, “I’m happy for them,” Tsitsipas told Tennis Infinity.

“I believe in the message of ubuntu [a philosophy that supports collectivism over individualism]…by having others be good, [to] sort of witness greatness of others around me, I am also allowing myself to become better too.

“I believe in that message and I think the fact that they’re doing well is benefitting me too and it’s giving me a clear, better view of how I should approach my game.”

Tsitsipas will be positive that their success will benefit his game at the Miami Open where he is the second seed.

The opening match for Tsitsipas will be fellow one-handed backhander Richard Gasquet with their head-to-head tied at 1-1.

Ahead of the contest Tsitsipas admitted that he is getting closer to being pain free, “Everything is getting better and I’m heading toward the right direction,” Tsitsipas said.

“[I hope] to play pain free and just be able to step out there and show something different than Indian Wells because Indian Wells was a big struggle…I hope I get to play with more of an element of fun on the court and not think too much about my arm.”

The match will take place on Saturday as Tsitsipas looks to build momentum towards his Monte-Carlo title defence.

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Miami Open Daily Preview: Canadians Andreescu, Fernandez Face Top 10 Opposition

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A look at the grounds of the Miami Open (twitter.com/HardRockStadium)

Second round ATP and WTA action takes place on Friday in Miami.

 

The WTA’s top two Canadian players will take part in two of the day’s best matchups.  2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu takes on Maria Sakkari, while 2021 US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez plays Belinda Bencic.

Other action on Friday includes top names such as Carlos Alcaraz, Aryna Sabalenka, Casper Ruud, and Ons Jabeur.

Each day, this preview will analyze the two most intriguing matchups, while highlighting other notable matches on the schedule.  Friday’s play gets underway at 11:00am local time.


Maria Sakkari (7) vs. Bianca Andreescu – 12:00pm on Stadium Court

Andreescu is 7-6 this season, and overcame fellow US Open champ Emma Raducanu in the first round.  This is only her third appearance in Miami, but she is 9-2 at this event, and was the runner-up the last time she played here in 2021.

Sakkari is now 15-6 on the year, yet is just 7-5 in Miami.  Four of those wins came during her semifinal run in 2021, when she lost to Andreescu in a dramatic three-setter.

That 2021 semifinal lasted nearly three hours, with Andreescu eventually prevailing in a third-set tiebreak well after midnight.  Their only other meeting occurred later that year at the US Open, with Sakkari winning 6-3 in the third.  In the rubber match on Friday, Maria has to be considered the favorite based on recent form, though it’s hard to ever count out Bianca, one of the sport’s most dogged competitors.


Leylah Fernandez vs. Belinda Bencic (9) – Fifth on Butch Buchholz Court

Fernandez is 8-6 in 2023, and on Wednesday earned her first-ever victory in Miami, over Lesia Tsurenko.  Leylah has struggled to regain her form after suffering a serious foot injury in the quarterfinals of Roland Garros last June.

Bencic is a strong 15-4 to start the season, and has already collected two hard court titles (Adelaide, Abu Dhabi).  While she’s just 8-6 lifetime in Miami, she did advance to the semifinals last year, losing to Naomi Osaka.

Leylah and Belinda have split four previous matches, two of which occurred during the Billie Jean King Cup, most recently last fall when Bencic won in straights.  Just a few weeks earlier, Bencic also defeated Fernandez, this time 6-3 in the third in Guadalajara.  This is another case where the Canadian should be considered the underdog, but a Canadian victory would not be shocking.


Other Notable Matches on Friday:

Andrey Rublev (6) vs. J.J. Wolf – Rublev is a modest 11-7 this year, and just 10-7 in Miami.  Wolf is 9-6 this year, and reached the second week of a Major for the first time in Melbourne.  Last summer in Washington, Andrey defeated J.J. in straight sets.

Varvara Gracheva (Q) vs. Ons Jabeur (4) – Jabeur is just 4-3 on the year, having undergone a minor surgery after the Australian Open.  She’s is 1-0 against Gracheva, having defeated her in three sets last year in Madrid on clay.

Carlos Alcaraz (1) vs. Facundo Bagnis – Alcaraz is 14-1 since February, and needs to defend this title in order to retain the No.1 ranking.  Bagnis’ win in the opening round was his first ATP-level main draw victory on a hard court since August.  Last summer on clay in Umag, Alcaraz beat Bagnis 6-0, 6-4.

Caroline Garcia (5) vs. Sorana Cirstea – This is a rematch from just last week at Indian Wells, when Cirstea upset Garcia 7-5 in the third.  Caroline claimed their other two previous meetings, though all three have now gone three sets.

Shelby Rogers vs. Aryna Sabalenka (2) – Sabalenka is now 17-2 in 2023, but is only 4-4 lifetime in Miami.  Rogers eliminated another Slam champ, Sloane Stephens, in the first round.  Aryna is 3-0 against Shelby, which includes a straight-set victory at January’s Australian Open.

Casper Ruud (3) vs. Ilya Ivashka – Ruud is defending runner-up points from a year ago, but is only 4-5 this season.  Ivashka arrived at Indian Wells on a nine-match losing streak, yet has now claimed three of his last four matches. 


Friday’s full Order of Play is here.

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Top 3 Miami Open 2023 Male Contenders

Carlos Alcaraz is among the top three contenders for the Miami Open title in 2023.

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Carlos Alcaraz (@TheTennisLetter - Twitter)

Tennis is arguably one of the most popular sports of today. It features players from all over the world looking to walk away with a trophy after decimating their opponents. As a global sport, tennis has a following worldwide.

 

Loads of platforms enable tennis players to follow events and matches. Some of these platforms cover a variety of sports so besides tennis matches, they’ll also offer MMA fights, football tips, basketball matches, and more. The main thing about these sites is to enjoy them responsibly.

When it comes to tennis tournaments, the Miami Open 2023 is upon us, and there are some serious contenders this year. In that regard, here are the top 3 male contenders for the tournament this year:

Carlos Alcaraz

Carlos Alcaraz is a young Spanish tennis player who has been making waves in the tennis world. Born on May 5, 2003, in Murcia, Spain, he turned professional in 2018 and has already achieved several impressive feats at a very young age. He won his first ATP Tour title in August 2021, becoming the youngest player in over a decade to win an ATP Tour title. Alcaraz is known for his aggressive style of play, which is complemented by his excellent footwork and shot-making ability. With his promising talent, work ethic, and track record, Alcaraz is expected to be a top contender at the Miami Open 2023.

Stefanos Tsitsipas

Stefanos Tsitsipas is a Greek professional tennis player who has established himself as one of the brightest stars in the sport. Born on August 12, 1998, in Athens, Greece, Tsitsipas turned professional in 2016 and has since then climbed the ranks to become a top player. He has won nine ATP Tour titles, including the prestigious ATP Finals in 2019, and has reached the semi-finals of Grand Slam tournaments.

Tsitsipas is known for his all-around game, which is characterized by his powerful serves, aggressive baseline strokes, and deft touch at the net. He is also a keen strategist on the court, always looking for ways to outmaneuver his opponents. Off the court, Tsitsipas is a multilingual individual who is passionate about philosophy and other intellectual pursuits. With his talent, personality, and dedication, Tsitsipas is poised to make a significant impact on the Miami Open 2023.

Casper Ruud

Casper Ruud is a Norwegian professional tennis player who has been rising in the rankings in recent years. Born on December 22, 1998, in Oslo, Norway, Ruud comes from a family of tennis players, with his father being a former player and his mother a former top-level junior player. He turned professional in 2016 and has since then won nine ATP Tour titles, all of them on clay courts. Ruud is known for his strong baseline game, which is built around his powerful forehand and his ability to move well on clay. With his youth and talent, Ruud will be looking to make a significant impact on Miami Open 2023.

In conclusion, these are the 3 top male contenders for the Miami Open 2023. They will take on each other and prove their worth on the court. But only one will walk away with the trophy.

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