WIMBLEDON: Who will win the women’s and men’s singles? - UBITENNIS
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WIMBLEDON: Who will win the women’s and men’s singles?

Who will claim the Men’s and Women’s singles titles at Wimbledon?

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Rafael Nadal (@WeAreTennis - Twitter)

The oldest tennis tournament in the world commences today for two weeks of action-packed coverage.

 

Since 1877, the All England Club has opened its doors to players and spectators from all over the world.

After being hit by Coronavirus these past two years, a sense of normality appears to be returning.

The famous early morning queues are back for the first time in three years, along with full attendance crowds.

But the big question is: who is going to win the women’s and men’s singles championships?

Women’s title up for grabs

Last year’s champion, Ash Barty has since retired and hung up her racquet for good it seems.

So, tradition normally states that the defending champion open play on centre court.

Instead, on Tuesday, this honour will fall to the current world number one Iga Świątek, who has impressively absorbed the power vaccum at the top of women’s tennis and owned it.

The Pole has won six tournaments on the trot and boasts a 35-match win streak, tying the record set by Venus Williams in 2000.

She will be the one to beat, even if grass isn’t her best surface.

Other contenders are of course Venus’ little sister, Serena Williams, who has won seven titles at SW19.

The 23-time Grand Slam champion may be 40 and approaching the end of her career, but can you ever write her off?

She knows how to win and go deep at the Majors.

It’s her fitness and lack of match play that will be the main concern.

She hasn’t played since limping out a year ago at the same venue in her opening round match against Aliaksandra Sasnovich.

The Serena camp and Serena fans will probably think a triumph is very unlikely and just to see her back playing is a bonus.

Last week she got some matches in at Eastbourne with doubles partner Ons Jabeur who is having a stunning season.

The world number two recently won on grass in Berlin beating Belinda Bencic in the final and also won a maiden Masters 1000 in Madrid.

The Tunisian will certainly be one to watch.

Another contender could well be the French Open finalist Coco Gauff who shot to prominence on this surface three years ago.

The American is also in good form and will fancy her chances of going deep into week two.

Men’s title dominated by the usual suspects

As always, can you really look any further than the usual contenders of Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

For the first time in his career, the Spaniard has won the first two Grand Slams of the year, hoovering up the Australian and French Open titles.

Having need injections in his foot last month to participate in Paris, the 22-time Grand Slam champion has since had treatment that seems to have eased the pain, he had been in.

Having not played last year at Wimbledon due to injury and making a first appearance since 2019, it will be interesting to see how Nadal fares.

He reached the quarter-finals that year, going down to Roger Federer in a high-quality match.

Whilst narrowly losing the year before in the semis to Djokovic so it seems Nadal has found his groove again on grass but whether he can win the third leg of the calendar Grand Slam, is another matter.

But Rafa is certainly eyeing history this fortnight.

Standing in his way is Djokovic, considered the best grass court player currently. Although Federer in his prime would stake a claim to that having won a record eight Wimbledon singles titles, overtaking seven-time winner Pete Sampras.

The Serb has had a poor season for his standards after the COVID drama in Australia but will also fancy his own chances.

The major challenger to the apple cart is Matteo Berrettini, who is on a high after winning back-to-back grass-court tournaments at Stuttgart and Queen’s.

The Italian is difficult to beat and only lost to Djokovic last year at the Grand Slams.

He’s looking good after three months out with a hand injury and after making the final last year, he will be quietly confident of going all the way this time.

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Nick Kyrgios Opens Up About His Self-Harm Battle And Murray’s Support

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Nick Kyrgios (AUS) playing against Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN) in the third round of the Gentlemen's Singles on No.1 Court at The Championships 2021. Held at The All England Lawn Tennis Club, Wimbledon. Day 6 Saturday 03/07/2021. Credit: AELTC/Jonathan Nackstrand

Nick Kyrgios says he became addicted to pain during his battle with self-harm that lasted between 18 and 24 months.

 

In an exclusive interview with Piers Morgan Uncensored on TalkTV, the former Wimbledon finalist spoke about his mental health issues. Kyrgios has previously spoken publically about the topic but has now revealed further details about the extent he went through and the role Andy Murray played in supporting him. He was admitted to a psychiatric ward in London and contemplated suicide following the 2019 Wimbledon Championships.

“It was pretty dark to be honest,” Kyrgios told Morgan. “I won tournaments on the professional tour, drinking every night, self-harming, burning things on my arm, cutting myself for fun. It became an addiction of pain. I hated myself. I hated waking up and being Nick Kyrgios.”

One of those who tried to help the Australian address his self-harm problem was three-time Grand Slam champion Murray who noticed cuts on Kyrgios’ arms during one of their practice sessions four years ago. According to The Times, the former world No.1 then alerted Kyrgios’ manager John Morris about the cuts.

Paying tribute to the Brit, Kyrgios says Murray has supported him throughout his career. The 28-year-old has been ranked as high as 13th in the world and has won seven ATP titles. Besides his run to the Wimbledon final last year, he has also reached the quarter-final stage of a major on three other occasions.

“Andy was always a big supporter of me,” Kyrgios said. “As soon as I came on the tour, he kind of saw a work in progress and took me under his wing. Then he realised later in my career that I don’t think I was coachable or I was on my own path, but he was always someone that was looking out for me.
“He saw it [the self-harm] and he said, ‘What’s that on your arm?’ It was pretty bad at that stage. Andy obviously was trying to give me advice on it. But I was just so stuck in my ways at that time that I didn’t listen. Obviously I’m very thankful. I thank him a lot.”

Kyrgios, who has only played one match on the Tour this season due to injury, hopes that he can help others by speaking publicly about his mental health battle. Something he describes as ‘the most powerful thing in his career.’

“I feel like I’ve helped so many people after I opened up about it and put it on social media,” Kyrgios said.
“I’ve almost been a beacon for people who are struggling. When they feel like they’re overwhelmed and they’re going towards drinking, drugs and stuff, they open up and they feel like I’m relatable.
“That’s been the most powerful thing in my career; people coming to me with genuine issues.
“They send me photos in my Instagram, direct messages, self-harming and genuinely wanting to commit suicide.
“I have conversations with these people. Sometimes I’ve had phone calls with these people. That’s making a real difference and I’m just really proud.”

Kyrgios recently had a stint in broadcasting after working for The Tennis channel during the ATP Finals in Milan. He is continuing his rehab from injury but it is unclear as to when he will make his return to professional tennis.

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Hamad Medjedovic earns first place in Red Group at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah

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Hamad Medjedovic beat Abdullah Shelbayh 3-4 (6-8) 4-2 4-3 (7-5) 4-2 to earn first place in the Red Group with a perfect 3-0 record at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah. 

 

Medjedovic needed to win at least one set to reach the semifinals, while Shelbayh needed to win the match in three or four sets. Luca Van Assche qualified as the second-placed player from the Red Group.

Medjedovic will face Dominic Stricker in the semifinal, while Van Assche takes on Arthur Fils.  

Medjedovic fired 18 aces and won 88 % of his first-serve points. He saved all three break points against Shelbayh. 

Medjedovic fired a tournament-leading 45 aces and was broken twice. 

Medjedovic saved three break points to hold serve in the fourth game of the first set. Shelbayh went up a mini-break twice, but Medjedovic pulled back on serve both times. Shelbayh won the final three points to clinch the tie-break 8-6. Both players went on serve in the first five games before Medjedovic earned the break to win the second set 4-2. 

The third set went on serve with no break points en route to the tie-break. Shelbayh earned the first mini-break to take a 3-2 lead. Medjedovic pulled back on serve to draw level to 3-3. The Serbian player earned a second mini-break to close out the tie-break 7-5. 

Medjedovic started the fourth set with an early break in the first game. He held on his next service games and sealed the win on his first match point. 

Medjedovic set up a semifinal match against Dominic Stricker. Luc Van Assche will face Arthur Fils in an all-French semifinal.“It was a great match. I played really good after the first set He is a very good friend of mine. He is a very good player and obviously the crowd here loves him and I respect that. It was a pleasure to play in front of the crowd”, said Medjedovic. 

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Dominic Stricker cruises past Luca Nardi at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah

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Third seed Dominic Stricker cruised past Luca Nardi 4-1 4-1 4-2 in 54 minutes in the fastest match in the history of the Next Gen Finals at the Next Gen ATP Finals at the King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah bouncing back from his defeat in the first match against Flavio Cobolli on Tuesday. 

 

Stricker converted four of his six break points and hit 13 winners, including 3 aces. 

Stricker came back from 15-40 down in the first game after two double faults from Nardi and broke serve with a return winner on the deciding point to take a 1-0 lead. The world number 94 saved three break-back-back points in the second game from 15-40 down before breaking for the second time in the fifth game to win the first set 4-1. 

Stricker broke serve at 30 in the second game of the second set and held serve at love in the third game to race out to a 3-0 lead. Stricker served it out on his second set point. 

Stricker earned an early break in the first game of the third set on the deciding point and held his next service games. Nardi saved the first match point but he hit his backhand into the net on the second match point after the longest rally of the match. 

“We had a long discussion yesterday evening about how to do it today. I think it was really good that we talked a lot after what maybe was not my best performance. Now to come out today like that, I think nobody expected that. I am just happy that I did it and now I am going to try my best to recover for the third group match”, said Stricker. Stricker is now 1-1 in Green Group. The Swiss player is aiming to reach his second consecutive semifinal at the Next Gen Finals. He is looking to crown a good year after reaching the fourth round at the US Open. 

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