THE RACQUET There are lots of GIFS & images in The Racquet. You may need to give it a bit of time to load depending on your Wifi/4g. I promise it's worth it 😅 SPOILER FREE ZONE 🙅‍♂️ If you don't want to see todays scores yet, and instead want to catch up with the highlights first, stop here. Here are links to todays match highlights. Some may get removed.



Cilic vs Muller



Wawrinka vs Querrey



Thiem vs Sugita



Tsitsipas vs Kudla



Nishikori vs Khachanov QUEENS & HALLE - DAY 3 RESULTS 🎾 QUEENS: Featured Matches:

Querrey d Wawrinka 7-5, 6-7(3), 6-1



It may be a loss for Wawrinka but, given his last few months, it was still encouraging against a player who finds his best tennis on grass. Stan was Federer-like on BP's (1/13), and probably could have been a set and break up if he had taken his chances. Still likely the highest level he's played at since injury though. Querrey hit an impressive 25 aces and managed to save 92% of his BP's thanks to a mix of good serving and poor returning from Stan.



Cilic D Muller 4-6, 6-3, 6-3



Muller played a brilliant 1st set, breaking Cilic with some huge returns. That was effectively 'set over' given how easily Muller was holding serve at that point. Then it was Cilic's turn to turn into a fortress as he dropped just five(!) service points in the last two sets combined (and won 100% of 1st serve points in the 3rd set)😳. Cilic also started absolutely teeing-off on Muller's 2nd serve (winning 8/10 2nd serve return points in the 3rd set). Very good signs for Cilic.



Also:

Tiafoe d L Mayer 6-4, 2-6, 6-4

Chardy d Medvedev 7-6(6), 6-3

Daniell/Koolhof d Djokovic/Wawrinka 6-4, 7-6(2)



HALLE:



Featured Matches:

Khachanov d Nishikori 6-2, 6-2



Strange match from Nishikori, solid from Kachanov. Kei made far too many cheap errors and made it hard for himself on serve with only 59% 1st serve points won, and 53% 1st serve in. Those kind of stats just won't cut it on grass, even against someone like Karen whose return is far from his strength. Decent serving performance from Karen. At this point it's just a bonus that Kei isn't injured given he's hurt himself during every prior Halle appearance.



Sugita d Thiem 6-2, 7-5



Thiem looks like he needs more rest after a brutal clay season, so this loss may be good for him. Especially as it looks like he's dealing with some minor tendonitis in his knees (common in clay👉grass transition). Sugita was great, Thiem was not. Dominic's 2nd serve basically fell apart for large portions of the match with Sugita winning 62(!)% of 2nd serve return points.



Also:

Bautista Agut d Haase 6-4, 7-5

Basilashvili d Molleker 6-4, 7-6(5)

Kudla d Tsitsipas 6-3, 6-4 INTERVIEW/PRESS TL;DR 🗣 Murray on his next move:



"I wouldn't rule out playing Eastbourne and not playing Wimbledon...If I wake up on Wednesday morning and I really don't feel good then that's obviously not a great sign."

Source



I think it's very unlikely that Andy misses Wimbledon given how well he competed vs Kyrgios at Queens. But wise to be cautious. Federer on his tiebreak-heavy rivalry with Kyrgios and why that could be dangerous if they meet in a win-by-two-games scenario like Wimbledon:



"I’d rather not play five-set matches against Nick because they would last too long and we would probably both grow beards before the end...



More interestingly from this interview, Roger also had some words of advice for Nick:



"I’m a fan, really. He plays very relaxedly, just like me when I was young... Fortunately, I changed, so I could become really successful. With him it's more about being focused to motivate himself again, doing the same on every point."

Source

Kyrgios on the competition on grass and Murray if he plays.



"There are only a handful of guys who can really play on grass. He's got a good chance."

Source Stefanos Tsitsipas's thoughts on grass: Grass is his "favourite surface" .

. Going from grass to clay is easier than clay to grass. Source Nishikori after his straight sets loss to Khachanov today:



"I made life hard for myself after being broken in the first game of both sets. I made too many mistakes, especially on my forehand."

Source



"I couldn't make a first serve and I should have stayed back more at the baseline...I need to train more before Wimbledon".

Source



Kei pretty much confirming he won't play Eastbourne/Antalya:

"I'm going to have more practice in London next week" (translated)

Full Japanese Presser SHOTS OF THE DAY 😮 Tsitsipas with a dive that Boris Becker would have been proud of. And.. another angle🔥 Robin Haase with a brilliant angled pass vs RBA today. Tiafoe may as well have been drinking Pimms and wearing a boater hat given where he hit this from. Crazy-good flick crosscourt. TOMORROW'S OOP ⏰ 🔥 = match to watch



Queens (1pm Start):



Centre

Kyrgios vs Edmund (1st meeting) 🔥



Prediction: Kyrgios in 3



Djokovic vs Dimitrov (H2H 6-1) 🔥



Prediction: Djokovic in 2



Mannarino vs Benneteau (H2H 2-0)



Prediction: Mannarino in 3











Halle (12pm Start):



Stadion

Kohlschreiber vs Ebden (H2H 1-0)



Prediction: Kohlschreiber in 3



Coric vs Basilashvili (H2H 1-2)



Prediction: Coric in 3



Federer vs Paire (H2H 5-0) 🔥



Prediction: Federer in 2



Seppi vs F Mayer (H2H 4-2)



Prediction: Seppi in 3 EXTRAS... After beating Murray yesterday, Kyrgios joined an exclusive club: players who have beaten each member of the Big Four. The club has 9 active members now: Simon, Tsonga, Cilic, Del Potro, Wawrinka, Berdych, Nishikori, Thiem and Kyrgios.

Tiafoe has now won 9(!) deciding set matches in a row. This is one of those underrated little stats which gives an indication of closing ability and mental strength, especially considering Edmund, Del Potro and Berdych were some of his opponents in this run.

With his loss today, if he doesn't enter Eastbourne/Antalya, Nishikori will be seeded somewhere in the 25-32 range at Wimbledon. That is going to be a nasty R3 for one of the top 8.

Federer is the only top 15 player left in the Halle singles draw.

Wimbledon released a great little film about Rufus the Hawk, destroyer of pigeons at the All England Club.

Video Rafa twisted his left ankle in practice in Mallorca today. Apparently not serious and was able to continue hitting.

Source Juan Monaco visiting his buddy Rafa.

Source LOL 😂 Stefanos Slipsipas. Stan decimating his racquet 💥. The divot he made sent the Queens grounds staff into a "get off my lawn" frenzy. The most random party-trick anyone has ever seen: John Millman's ability to tie a knot in a candy snake with his tongue. I assume his girlfriend rates this talent. Querrey doing his best impression of a drunk, baby giraffe. Stan and Novak not quite in sync as a doubles pair yet... GAME, SET & MATCH 👋 Thanks for reading! You early subscribers (Beta testers) get access to 'The Racquet' Discord. Tap/click the Discord button below so you can give some feedback (or just spam Dolgopolov emojis 🤷‍♂️) You can also follow me on Twitter here: If you know anyone who would like 'The Racquet' here is the link to send them so they can sign up: https://theracquet.carrd.co See you tomorrow for Queens and Halle Day 4!