THE RACQUET If you know anyone who would like 'The Racquet' here is the link to send them so they can sign up: https://theracquet.co Disclaimer: 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 😅 WIMBLEDON - DAY 2 RESULTS 🎾 Featured Matches:



Nadal d Sela 6-3, 6-3, 6-2



Solid 1st match on grass for Rafa and was never in any danger. His 1st serve looked good throughout (70%+ for 1st-serve-in and 1st-serve-points-won), but he had some issues with his 2nd serve in the 3rd set (only won 11/20 2nd serve points in the match). Nadal will be pleased with 24/29 net points won, volleying very well thanks to some heavy approach shots. The only real issue I can see for Rafa is his slice backhand. It's still sitting up too high on the grass, something he has struggled with in recent years. The slice can be such a weapon on this surface due to the low bounce, but Rafa is guilty of giving it far too much net clearance and allowing his opponent time on the ball.



Kyrgios d Istomin 7-6(3), 7-6(4), 6-7(5), 6-3



The first 3 sets were a story of both players holding serve pretty comfortably, but not making any real progress on return. Kyrgios' return of serve continues to be troublesome for him. Similar to performances in Stuttgart & Queens, Kyrgios seemed perfectly content to win this match in tiebreakers, raising his game very impressively at the tail-end of the first 2 sets. However Nick has developed a habit of completely checking out when down in the score of his opponents service games. This mindset has been punished before, and it was so again in the 3rd set as Istomin looked far too comfortable on serve, eventually winning the breaker. In the 4th set, Nick finally created a chance on Istomin's serve, converting the BP to serve out the match 6-4.



Djokovic d Sandgren 6-3, 6-1, 6-2



Strangely, given the result, Novak was as angry as I have ever seen him on court. Even on points he won, he was regularly screaming at his box. All this means is that the Serb is once again holding himself to incredibly high standards, which can only be a good sign for his prospects this fortnight. Djokovic was impeccable on serve for the 1st two sets, facing no break points and winning 80%+ of his first serve points and 75% of his 2nd serve points(!). Novak then had a wobble in the 3rd with his 1st serve % dipping and offered up a tame break. He broke straight back and cruised to the finish line.



Also:

(‼️ = upset)



Edmund d Bolt: 6-2, 6-3, 7-5

A Zverev d Duckworth: 7-5, 6-2, 6-0

Baghdatis d Thiem: 6-4, 7-5, 2-0 Ret'd (back/shoulder injury) ‼️

Ebden d Goffin: 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 ‼️

Del Potro d Gojowczyk: 6-3, 6-4, 6-3

Dzumhur d Marterer: 6-3, 6-2, 6-4

Herbert d M Zverev: 6-4, 6-3, 6-4

F Lopez d Delbonis: 6-3, 6-4, 6-2

Khachanov d Ferrer: 6-1, 7-6(3), 3-6, 7-5

Schwartzman d Basic: 6-3, 6-2, 6-1

Tiafoe d Verdasco: 7-6(6), 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-3

Nishikori d C Harrison: 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-2

De Minaur d Cecchinato: 6-4, 6-7(6), 7-6(5), 6-4

Fognini d Daniel: 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 All Results INTERVIEW/PRESS TL;DR 🗣 Rafa after beating Sela:



- "Still room for improvement".



- "Happy with net play and 1st serve in 1st and 2nd set. 2nd serve can be better".

(TV Interview)



- "The shot clock? Well, I don't think it will bother me, then I'm 32, I hope I will play more but it won't be forever, so... (smiling). But I don't agree with it, in a tough match, with tough rallies, you can't have just 25 seconds between points"

Source



(Matt): Context = the 2018 US Open will be the first of the slams to introduce a (25 second) shot-clock to police time between points. Rafa is regularly criticised for being slower than a tortoise on ketamine.



Rafa on the ATP's proposed 'World Team Cup":



- “If it is an important event good. Doesn’t change much. I do not like that a 'World Cup' would always be held in Australia.”

Source



(Matt): Context = the ATP and ITF are currently butting heads over planned, competing tennis team events (ITF Davis Cup vs ATP World Team Cup).

Kyrgios after beating Istomin:



- "Tennis for me isn't everything, but it gives me the opportunity to help people, kids, make their lives better".

Source (Matt): I love Nick and 99% of what he brings to tennis, but I really wish he'd stop saying this kind of stuff. 1. It sounds a bit conceited, and 2. everytime he says he doesn't care about tennis it gets less believable. The guy is doing admirable work with his foundation and is exceptionally talented, but a bit more showing rather than telling would be👌.



- "I was a little bit nervous out there today, couldn't find the rythm, but I served well, and managed to pull through".

Source

Agassi candidly talking about his time with Novak:



- "I didn’t realise the status of how bad it (the elbow) was until I was watching him go through his daily recoveries from his matches and the anti-inflammatories he was taking."



- "It was my strong opinion that he should have surgery in August (2017) so we would be way ready for Australia....You know, he had strong feelings about healing holistically."



- "There were just a lot of decisions that were procrastinating a real conviction of approach."



(Matt): Interesting that someone close to the situation has actually admitted that Novak's holistic approach hurt his recovery.



- "His elbow wasn’t allowing him to progress but now if he’s healthy his body is 31 going on 25... I see an easy five more years in him assuming that there’s no curves with the elbow."

Full interview SHOTS OF THE DAY 😮 Rafa and Jimmy Connors. Masters of the 'Sky-hook'.

(BBC) Istomin with a great little flick cross-court to bamboozle Kyrgios.

(BBC) Novak doing what he does better than anyone. Crushing return ace.

(BBC) Rafa pass tm

(BBC) Outrageous forehand slap from Sandgren.

(BBC) DAY 3 OOP ⏰ Match to watch = 🔥 Centre Court

(1pm Start) Federer vs Lacko (H2H: 2-0)

Prediction: Federer in 3



Court 1

(1pm Start) Cilic vs Pella (H2H: 1-0)

Prediction: Cilic in 3



Court 2

(11:30am Start) Millman vs Raonic (1st Meeting)

Prediction: Raonic in 4



Anderson vs Seppi (H2H: 1-0)

Prediction: Anderson in 4 Court 3

(11:30am Start)



Monfils vs Lorenzi (H2H: 3-0)

Prediction: Monfils in 3



Wawrinka vs Fabbiano (1st Meeting)

Prediction: Wawrinka in 4



Non-Show Courts to Watch

(11:30am Start)



Court 18

Tsitsipas vs Donaldson 🔥



Court 8

Kohlschreiber vs Muller

Full Order of Play EXTRAS...🔍 Feli Lopez is playing in his 66th consecutive Grand Slam tournament this year at Wimbledon. He breaks the record which was formerly held by Roger Federer, and is the first player (man or woman) in the history of Open Era to reach this milestone (singles).



The only other active player with a live streak is Verdasco, currently at 61.

Kyrgios asking Istomin how he returned a 134mph body serve by falling over:



"How'd you make that bro?!"

Video

Former World No. 337 Karim Hossam has been banned for life and fined $15,000 after being convicted of multiple match-fixing offences.

Source

The average age of ATP players as of today:



Top 100: 28 years, 99 days

Top 20: 27 years 331 days

Top 10: 29 years 171 days

Diego Schwartzman (world number 11) won his first ever 😳 match on grass today.

Thiem being treated for a back/shoulder injury. Retired vs Baghdatis. LOL 😂 Gulbis mistakenly rifling around in his opponents (Clarke) bag at the change of ends. Maybe he thought he'd find a functioning forehand in there somewhere.

(BBC) Chronicles of tennis players keeping their eye on the ball despite-face planting, Denis Istomin edition.

(BBC) Steve Johnson, match point down, proving not everyone can pull off 'The Wawrinka'.

Source

(Eurosport) Kyrgios eviscerating a ballgirl with a 127mph serve. Istomin & Kyrgios made sure she was ok.(Eurosport) Source Novak nearly folding in half 😵. This probably would have been a bad injury for 95% of the tour.

(BBC)

Kukushkin, who lost to Mischa Zverev in the final of Eastbourne last week, with the honest approach.

Source GAME, SET & MATCH 👋 Thanks for reading! You early subscribers (Beta testers) get access to 'The Racquet' Discord. Tap/click the Discord button below to join (we even have Jerzy Janowicz 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.co See you tomorrow for Day 3 at Wimbledon!