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RESULTS 🎾

💥 = Beatdown \\ 🤕 = Injury \\ ‼️ = Upset \\ 🤯 = Epic

Featured Matches

Del Potro d Shapovalov: 7-5, 6-4 — Queens 🇬🇧

TL;DW: Tidy, experienced performance from Delpo, who didn’t face a single break point, and never really looked in danger in the face of an erratic opponent. Shapo played a great 1st set, on serve, until 5-5, before throwing in two wild forehand errors, a missed sitter of a volley and a double fault (all in a row) to hand the decisive break to Delpo. More errors flowed from Shapo’s racquet at 2-2 in the 2nd set, from the forehand wing in particular (12 overall), offering up another break. Those two lapses were all it took as Delpo looked in no danger of giving a break advantage back. Shapo showed some brilliant flashes today (as he usually does), but continues to really struggle with some rash shot selection in his first few shots post-serve. Del Potro has now withdrawn from Queens with a knee injury sustained while slipping on the grass. F.Lopez gets a walkover to the quarterfinals.

Wawrinka d Evans: 6-3, 6-4 💥 — Queens 🇬🇧

TL;DW: The difference in each set was an early break of the Evans serve (0*-0 in 1st set, 1*-1 in 2nd). Wawrinka faced two break back points in the 1st set but saved both with huge serves, and looked utterly untroubled on serve throughout the 2nd set. A three hour rain delay, at the end of the 1st set, did little to dent Wawrinka’s momentum. The keys to this match were Wawrinka’s significantly greater firepower advantage, specifically in the backhand to backhand duel, and on serve: Serve. Stan’s bigger, better serve came up trumps today as 53% of his 1st serves went unreturned compared to just 20% of Evans’s. Backhand. Evans owes much of his success on this surface to a cutting offensive and defensive slice backhand. But Wawrinka’s topspin backhands, off Evans’ low balls, were stunning all match long. The Swiss effortlessly dictated play and changed direction up the line to keep Evans running and off-balance. This point sums up the matchup today: — Evans doing his best to defend with his slice backhand, but Wawrinka’s topspin backhand was straight up devastating. Stan had no problem redirecting low balls down the line. Evans was constantly chasing Wawrinka’s more powerful baseline game. (TennisTV)

Tsitsipas leading Edmund: 6-3, 3-3… - Queens 🇬🇧 Tsitsipas rushed out to an early break (2*-1) after Edmund missed a few forehands. Tsitsipas’s flatter (eastern) forehand was doing more damage than Edmund’s spinnier (western) forehand, and Tsitsipas managed to break again (at 3*-5) to take the 1st set. Edmund didn’t look 100% movement wise and Tsitsipas was by far the more confident, and consistently aggressive, player before a rain delay hit. Match postponed until tomorrow due to rain.

🌧 Queens Matches Cancelled: 🌧

Kyrgios vs Carballes Baena (Rd 1) and Grigor Dimitrov vs Felix Auger-Aliassime (Rd 1) postponed until tomorrow (both winners will have to play twice in one day) due to bad weather.

(Mannarino, who was meant to play Kyrgios in Rd 1, has pulled out due to a finger injury, and was replaced by Carballes Baena. Or maybe he just wanted to avoid the drizzling disorder that is Queens so far this year.)

— Queens Results —

López d Fucsovics : 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-4 (Delpo’s injury gives Lopez a walkover to the quarterfinals).

Chardy d Kukushkin : 6-1, 6-3

Bedene d De Minaur : 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 (not an upset in current form)

Pouille d Clarke : 7-6(2), 6-1

Raonic d Cecchinato: 6-3, 6-2 💥

— Halle Results —

Coric d J.Sousa: 7-6(4), 5-7, 7-6(4) 🤯

Very entertaining match, with all sorts of crazy momentum swings. Coric came back from 2-4 down in the deciding set tiebreak to clinch it. Worth watching the 26(!) shot match point (which was the best of the match):

Khachanov d Struff : 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 (borderline upset❗️)

Goffin d Albot : 4-6, 6-4, 6-3

Herbert d Stakhovsky: 2-6, 7-6(2), 6-4

5 SHOTS OF THE DAY 😮

— Once in a blue moon Shapo will block a return back in play (rather than trying to constantly annihilate return winners) and crush an effortless winner like this. (TennisTV)

— This is one of those rare kamikaze net approaches that actually comes off. Shapo is in no-mans-land and Delpo hits his forehand about as well, and as low, as possible. And yet, Shapo somehow finds the stunning volley pickup. Delpo couldn’t believe it. (TennisTV)

About as big a running forehand as you’ll see. Absolutely awesome from Shapo. (TennisTV)

— Delpo swatting Shapo’s 1st serve away like it was nothing. The return wasn’t that much slower than the serve. (TennisTV)

— Awesome 180 degree forehand from Struff (vs Khachanov). Thanks to doublefault28 for this GIF. (TennisTV)

— Wonderful 1-2 punch from Wawrinka. Both these guys like to block returns back in play, but Stan’s 2nd shot is so much bigger than Evans’. (TennisTV)

— Wawrinka on match point. That backhand was awesome all match long, eating up Evans’ slice backhands for fun. (TennisTV)

INTERVIEW/PRESSER BEST BITS🎤

Tsitsipas on whether he feels the pressure of being top seed at Queens:

“I want that pressure, I want to be the favourite and the top seed… it’s good for the confidence. I don’t really think about it, I found out I was top seed a few days ago.”

Djokovic killing Kyrgios with kindness:

ORDER OF PLAY (OOP) FOR THURSDAY - QUEENS 🇬🇧

CENTRE COURT

— 11am Local (UK), 5am CT—

🇭🇷 Cilic vs Schwartzman 🇦🇷 (H2H: 2-1) (1st Grass Meeting)

Prediction: Cilic in 2

🇬🇷 Tsitsipas vs Edmund 🇬🇧 (to finish from 6-3, 3-3…)

Prediction: Tsitsipas in 2

🇨🇭 Wawrinka vs Mahut 🇫🇷 (H2H: 0-1) (Grass H2H: 0-1)

Prediction: Wawrinka in 2

Tsitsipas or Edmund vs Chardy 🇫🇷

Prediction: Tsitsipas

Followed by:

Cabal/Farah vs F.Lopez/A.Murray (Doubles)

COURT 1

— 11am Local (UK), 5am CT—

🇿🇦 Anderson vs Simon 🇫🇷: (H2H: 4-1) (Grass H2H: 1-0)

Prediction: Anderson in 3

🇧🇬 Dimitrov vs Auger-Aliassime 🇨🇦 (1st Meeting)

Prediction: Dimitrov in 3

🇨🇦 Raonic vs Bedene 🇸🇮 (H2H: 2-0) (1st Grass Meeting)

Prediction: Raonic in 2

COURT 2

— 12pm Local (UK), 6am CT—

🇦🇺 Kyrgios vs Carballes Baena 🇪🇸 (1st Meeting)

Prediction: Kyrgios in 2

🇷🇺 Medvedev vs Pouille 🇫🇷 (H2H: 0-4) (Grass H2H: 0-1)

Prediction: Medvedev in 3

Full Queens Schedule

OOP - HALLE 🇩🇪

STADION

— 12pm Local, 11am UK, 5am CT—

🇮🇹 Berrettini vs Seppi 🇮🇹 (H2H: 0-1) (Grass H2H: 0-1)

Prediction: Berrettini in 3

🇪🇸 Bautista Agut vs Gasquet 🇫🇷 (H2H: 2-1) (1st Grass Meeting)

Prediction: Bautista Agut in 3

🇩🇪 A.Zverev vs Johnson 🇺🇸 (H2H: 0-1) (1st Grass Meeting)

Prediction: Zverev in 3

🇨🇭 Federer vs Tsonga 🇫🇷 (H2H: 11-6) (Grass H2H: 0-1)

Prediction: Federer in 2

EXTRAS 🔍📊🎤

— Dani Vallverdu working with Wawrinka and Delpo this week at Queens...

— A ballboy slipped and badly injured his left knee. Herbert gave him his headband as he was wheeled away. (TennisTV)

— First batch of Wimbledon wild cards announced:

— I’m guessing this means Baghdatis will be retiring imminently. Hard to see any other reason to include him given his last couple of years on tour.

— For the record, no one (that I know of), who has any knowledge of the match in question (F.Lopez was injured at the time), is taking the F.Lopez or M.Lopez 'match fixing' drama particularly seriously.

ATP Media Info @ATPMediaInfo #NoventiOpen19 Thursday Media Notes: bit.ly/2KZPk3D * @rogerfederer seeks his 17th @ATPHalle QF in 17 appearances. * @tsonga7 faces Federer for 1st time on grass since 2011 @Wimbledon win. * Matteo Berrettini has won 6 matches, 12 sets and 60 service games in a row. seeks his 17thQF in 17 appearances. *faces Federer for 1st time on grass since 2011win. * Matteo Berrettini has won 6 matches, 12 sets and 60 service games in a row.

Delpo slipped in his win over Shapovalov (GIF in ‘New Balls Please’ below). The Argentine now has swelling in his knee (the same knee he fractured in Shanghai last year):

— Update: Delpo has withdrawn from both singles and doubles due to the knee injury. 😢

NEW BALLS PLEASE 👀

*Herbert hits serve (called out)*

*Tries to challenge but none remaining*

*Herbert asks Stakhovsky to challenge for him*

*Stakho challenges*

*Hawkeye shows ball in by less than a millimetre*

*Both laughing*

— The grass court slips claimed lots of victims today.

At the Bratislava open, someone turned the sprinklers on during match point:

— Linesman gets hit square in the face by a framed Tsitsipas return. This seat is clearly cursed after what happened in the final between Cilic and Nalbandian a few years ago:

— Medvedev at home, having finished his Rd1 match on Monday, watching everyone else struggle so finish their 1st matches on Wednesday/Thursday.

— Kyrgios leaving a (ping pong ball shaped) mark on Bublik. Nick putting more effort into that one shot than he does in most matches at the moment. Source

I’m sending these daily recaps out to everyone this week (usually free subscribers only get weekly issues). But if you want to get the daily coverage throughout Wimbledon (and all Slams, Masters and most 500’s), you’ll need to be a paid subscriber ($5/month). Link below:

GAME, SET, MATCH 👋

— The Racquet is created, and written, by Matt.

— You can find me on Twitter here.

See you tomorrow for Queens & Halle Day 4!