THE RACQUET There are lots of GIFS & images in this issue. 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 for a quick rest. Here are links to todays match highlights. Some may get removed.



Pouille vs Tsitsipas



Dimitrov vs Dzumhur



Federer vs Bedene



Djokovic vs Millman QUEENS & HALLE - DAY 3 RESULTS 🎾 QUEENS: Featured Matches:

Dimitrov d Dzumhur 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-3



Bit of a strange match from Grigor (at one point was a break down in 3rd set). Was in control until the middle of the 2nd set and then started spraying balls and his serve went temporarily awol. Only won 4/15 break points which, against a serve as unthreatening as Dzumhur's, is surprising. Only won 45% of his 2nd serve return points, that area will be an issue if he faces Djokovic tomorrow.



Djokovic d Millman 6-2, 6-1



Great 1st match back on grass for Novak. Millman never had the weapons and hitting a consistent ball with little variation vs Djokovic is a bit like fighting off a shark with a bag of blood. Served brilliantly with 76% 1st serves in and 92% 1st serve points won. Those two stats combined usually = a nightmare for an opponent and bode well for his grass season overall. Novak also returned well with 63% 2nd serve return points won.



Kyrgios d Murray 2-6, 7-6(4), 7-5



Kyrgios said pre-match that he was probably the "best possible opponent for Andy today". This turned out to be prophetic given Nick played the 1st set like an exhibition match with 3 tweeners in that set alone (5 total for the match), which Murray took 6-2.



First off: Murray. Movement looked miles better than his practice sessions. Was fast around the court. His tennis IQ is still very much intact and it's always a pleasure to see his shot selection on grass. Physically speaking he's not yet consistently, fully rotating on his serves or backhand. He regularly played slices (less body rotation) on the run today where he would have normally hit his double-hander. A few moments of cautious movement. But it is Murray after all, he could be out for a Sunday stroll and he'd still be limping like he just emerged from battle. Murray told Kyrgios post match that he felt fine physically 🙌.



Strange match overall, neither at their best, Murray for obvious reasons. Nick looked in discomfort for most of the 2nd and 3rd set, was grabbing his hip. Encouraging for Murray, puzzling for Nick. Next round will be more instructive.



Also:

Lopez d Goffin 6-3, 6-7(7), 6-3

Raonic d Y Bhambri 6-1, 3-1 Ret'd

L Mayer d K Anderson 7-6(4), 4-6, 7-6(3)

Benneteau d Berdych 7-5, 3-6, 6-3

Chardy d Smyczek 6-2, 6-4

Edmund Harrison 4-3... (still in progress)

Mannarino beating Evans 6-4... (still in progress)



HALLE:



Featured Matches:

Tsitsipas d Pouille 6-2, 7-6(3)



Impressive performance from Stefanos against someone who plays some of his best tennis on grass. Tsitsi's 1st serve did lots of damage (86% 1st serve points won) and his volleying, touch and blocked BH return were also on point. Forehand is an elaborate stroke and may be a weakness on grass but his natural single handed BH, serve and net game very much suit the 🌱. Disappointing from Pouille, too many errors + double faults (6).



Federer d Bedene 6-3, 6-4



Unspectacular but efficient win for Roger. Probably a bit physically hungover after winning in Stuttgart 48hrs ago. He was never troubled and his serve was impenetrable for portions of the match. He only lost 4(!) points on serve in the 1st set. Overall Fed was only as good as he needed to be and, in classic Federer fashion, converted only 29% of his break points.



Coric d Zverev 6-1, 6-4



Coric was generous enough to take a below-par Zverev on a tour of the woodshed today. Solid performance from Borna against Zverev who looked far from fit. Possibly struggling with the same hamstring issue as he had at FO. Zverev only won only 59% of his 1st serve points and only 29% of his 2nd serve points. Half the reason was Coric returning well, the other half was Zverev serving and moving poorly. Not looking great form wise for Sascha for Wimbledon but a bit of rest may be the best thing for him.



Also:

Ebden d Jaziri 6-0, 7-6(2)

Kohlschreiber d Fucsovics 4-6, 6-3, 2-1 Ret'd

Khachanov d M Zverev 7-6(5), 6-3 (Zverev had hamstring/thigh issues)

Paire d Johnson 7-5, 7-6(5)

Seppi d Berrettini 6-3, 7-5

F Mayer d Gasquet 6-2, 6-2 (Gasquet not 100% after title run last week) PLAYER NEWS/ANNOUNCEMENTS 🗣 Federer gave lots of interviews before his 1st round match in Halle. Here are the best bits: Full interview: http://tnn.is/NwY72c 16th year at Halle, most successful hunting ground.

Spent clay season on vacation 👉 training 👉 vacation 👉 trip for his foundation 👉 training.

Nearly 3 weeks of solid training pre Stuttgart.

Didn't need to skip any training sessions, tennis or fitness. No pain or physical issues at all.

Used to to feel pressure in Halle. Felt expectation to live up to honour of having an entire street (outside the stadium) named after him. Now not so much, has taken a step back and just enjoying playing the event while he can.

"I'm a winner, and if I'm here in Halle, it means I'm here to win"

Hectic 48 hour turnaround from Stuttgart to playing 1st round today. Keen to get through Bedene and then he'll have a rest day on Wednesday. And in other interviews:



"Rafa was a bigger challenge for me 10 years ago, when we were facing each other much more often. Now we play less, especially recently as I skipped clay & he was injured a lot. The constant #1 changes are amazing for both"

Source



Federer talking about himself, Rafa, Novak, Andy, Stan and the next generation breaking through them:

"Such a group of players has probably never been seen before (at one time)"

Source



Federer on his future clay plans:

"I assume that I will still play, that's at least the plan. If I play clay again, then I would have to do more than just play Paris. If I want to win there...I would have to play two, three tournaments before"

Source



When asked about what he'll do about shoes if he changes sponsor:



"From 2005 onwards, I had become world No.1, so I started sticking to a model, at the very least in terms of how it's designed inside... you definitely have to be careful what you're doing there. Shoes and racquets are extremely important"

Source



Something I realised the other day when thinking about the Nike/Uniqlo deals is that Godsick (Fed's agent) would have been with IMG when he and Fed signed the ten year (2008-2018) Nike contract that expired in March. This means IMG would have been taking a cut even when Godsick and Federer had left IMG in 2012.

Nicholas Kicker (current No.100) banned from Tennis for 6(!) years for match fixing offences committed in 2015 (long before he was the successful player he is today). He will be 31 years old when he's allowed to return to the tour. Essentially career over. Monumental waste. Monumentally stupid. But the ATP also has to ask itself why players at the lower levels of tennis keep doing this. Prize money distribution still a big issue.

More SHOTS OF THE DAY 😮 Gasquet's single hander wrist-flick. Still great. Novak laying waste to Millman's serve today 🔥 This was match point. The elusive 'double tweener'

Full point A deceptively tough shot. Changing direction of the ball which keeps very low, skidding through the court. Fed makes it look like a simple flick 🤷‍♂️ What hip injury? Brilliant pass from Coric. Despite Zverev being in no-mans-land the ball was deep and low, meaning he had to create a crazy angle to pull off the clean pass. TOMORROW'S OOP ⏰ 🔥 = match to watch



Queens (12pm Start):



Centre

Tiafoe vs L Mayer (H2H 1-0)



Prediction: Tiafoe in 3



Wawrinka vs Querrey (H2H 5-1)



Prediction: Querrey in 3



Cilic vs Muller (H2H 3-0)🔥



Prediction: Cilic in 3 (these two played twice on grass last year, both matches incredibly close at Queens [3 sets] & Wimbledon [5 sets])



Ct 1

Medvedev vs Chardy (1st meeting)



Berdych/Verdasco vs Djokovic/Wawrinka 🔥









Halle (12pm Start):



Stadion

Bautista Agut vs Haase (H2H 1-1)



Prediction: RBA in 2



Nishikori vs Khachanov (H2H 1-1)



Prediction: Nishikori in 3



Tsitsipas vs Kudla (1st Meeting)



Prediction: Tsitsipas in 3



Thiem vs Sugita (H2H 1-0)



Prediction: Thiem in 2



Ct 1

Basilashvili vs Molleker TBF 0 -1 EXTRAS... Central Africa Republic says Boris Becker's diplomatic passport is 'fake'. @AFP

😂

Background: Boris Becker is trying to claim African Diplomatic Immunity to avoid Bankruptcy charges. Classic Boris.

After his impressive win today vs Pouille:

Tsitsipas on clay & grass in 2018: 18-7

Tsitsipas on hard courts in 2018: 7-9

Natural surfaces FTW 🙌

Kyrgios to Murray at the coin toss today: ”Do you remember how to do this, Andy??”

Source

Federer thinks he has to win another GS this year to have any chance on YE #1

Source

"The Windows go down, the music goes up!" Federer on driving himself between Stuttgart and Halle

Source

Gasquet fresh off his his Hertogenbosch title last week on why Roger-less tournaments are the way to go: 'I am not very surprised. It's good that he didn't come here (s-Hertogenbosch). I knew that Federer would have played Stuttgart and that's why I didn't commit there. I avoided him.'

Source Rafa decimating tennis balls. This a ball from Rafa's practice in Mallorca today. These guys are shipped fresh cans of balls by Wimbledon/Slazenger for their practice sessions so bear in mind this is a new ball, and yet...



...it looks like it's been chewed on by a dog. Gives a good indication of how hard Rafa goes in practice 😳. LOL 😂 Dzumhur proving the rule that nothing, including faceplanting, can stop a tennis player keeping his/her eyes on the ball. 10/10 for effort. Rafa with more game than Spain at the World Cup so far. Dzumhur spent most of his match today pretending the court was one giant slip-and-slide. Paire trying to plant his racquet 🌱 in Halle today. Possibly trying to grow a new forehand. Classic Benoit. Kyrgios being Kyrgios. Murray's been away for the game so long he put his top on the wrong way. THAT'S ALL FOR TODAY 👋 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 3!