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Feliciano Lopez Has a Record that Roger Federer Can’t Beat

The Spaniard is tennis' ultimate iron man at the Grand Slams.


Respect, and nothing but. That’s the prevailing sentiment after Spain’s Feliciano Lopez took the court today to begin his 66th consecutive Grand Slam, setting a new record for ATP tennis, as he passed Roger Federer on the ATP's all-time list in that category.

Wimbledon 2018: Nadal off to Fast Start | Day 3 Order of Play | Insane Federer | Take a Seat, Gulbis

That he won makes the occasion even sweeter for Lopez, a 36-year-old hard-serving southpaw who has mastered the art of getting better with age like many of his contemporaries on the ATP tour.

And speaking of getting better, the run of 66 consecutive Grand Slams played is so good that not even Roger Federer can match it.

“When I was [thinking] about breaking the record, I thought, wow, I'm going to beat Federer at something, which is a lot already,” Lopez said after his 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Federico Delbonis.

Tennis Express

The Spaniard made some jokes, but he also talked seriously about the significance of a remarkable achievement. For more than 16 years he has not only been healthy enough to compete at every major, he has also kept his ranking in good enough standing to qualify for all of them.

There’s a reason nobody else has a streak as long, not even the great Federer.


“Of course it means a lot to me,” he said. “As I said before, it's not about reaching this number of the most consecutive Grand Slams played. It's about being 15 years or more playing at the top level.

“For me, after 30 years always so important to be competitive and to challenge the best players in the world. This is what I thought at this stage of my career was the most important thing, to stay healthy and to be able to compete against these monsters, because for me I played in the past against other monsters, but after the 30s it was so important for me to stay fresh and healthy, just to challenge these animals, because they are very—the level overall is getting higher and higher in the last decade.”

Lopez moves on to face another monster in the second round in Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro. Win or lose, he’s already made an indelible mark on Wimbledon 2018, and that mark could last forever.

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Wimbledon Day 3 Order of Play

Roger Federer and the Williams sisters are back in action on Day 3 at Wimbledon. Order of play for Day 3, Wimbledon

CENTRE COURT – SHOW COURT – 13:00 START

Karolina Pliskova (CZE) [7] vs Victoria Azarenka (BLR)
Roger Federer (SUI) [1] vs Lukas Lacko (SVK)
Viktoriya Tomova (BUL) vs Serena Williams (USA) [25]

No.1 COURT – SHOW COURT – 13:00 START

Alexandra Dulgheru (ROU) vs Venus Williams (USA) [9]
Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) vs Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) [2]
Marin Cilic (CRO) [3] vs Guido Pella (ARG)

Tennis Express

No.2 COURT – SHOW COURT – 11:30 START

John Millman (AUS) vs Milos Raonic (CAN) [13]
Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) [32] vs Lucie Safarova (CZE)
Andreas Seppi (ITA) vs Kevin Anderson (RSA) [8]
Lesia Tsurenko (UKR) vs Barbora Strycova (CZE) [23]

No.3 COURT – SHOW COURT – 11:30 START

Katie Swan (GBR) vs Mihaela Buzarnescu (ROU) [29]
Paolo Lorenzi (ITA) vs Gael Monfils (FRA)
Thomas Fabbiano (ITA) vs Stan Wawrinka (SUI)
Tatjana Maria (GER) vs Kristina Mladenovic (FRA)

COURT 12 – SHOW COURT – 11:30 START

Luksika Kumkhum (THA) vs Madison Keys (USA) [10]
Sam Querrey (USA) [11] vs Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR)
John Isner (USA) [9] vs Ruben Bemelmans (BEL)
Katerina Siniakova (CZE) vs Ons Jabeur (TUN)

COURT 18 – SHOW COURT – 11:30 START

Lucas Pouille (FRA) [17] vs Dennis Novak (AUT)
Kiki Bertens (NED) [20] vs Anna Blinkova (RUS)
Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) [31] vs Jared Donaldson (USA)

COURT 5 – 11:30 START

Ana Bogdan (ROU) / Kaitlyn Christian (USA) vs Yingying Duan (CHN) / Aliaksandra Sasnovich (BLR)
Taro Daniel (JPN) / Yoshihito Nishioka (JPN) vs Antonio Sancic (CRO) / Andrei Vasilevski (BLR)
Dominic Inglot (GBR) / Franko Skugor (CRO) [15] vs Marton Fucsovics (HUN) / Mischa Zverev (GER)

COURT 6 – 11:30 START

Mirza Basic (BIH) / Dusan Lajovic (SRB) vs Fabrice Martin (FRA) / Purav Raja (IND)
Shuko Aoyama (JPN) / Jennifer Brady (USA) vs Darija Jurak (CRO) / Qiang Wang (CHN)
Pierre-Hugues Herbert (FRA) / Nicolas Mahut (FRA) [4] vs Roberto Carballes Baena (ESP) / Marco Cecchinato (ITA)
Gabriela Dabrowski (CAN) / Yifan Xu (CHN) [6] vs Alison Riske (USA) / Olga Savchuk (UKR)

COURT 7 – 11:30 START

Anett Kontaveit (EST) / Monica Puig (PUR) vs Nicole Melichar (USA) / Kveta Peschke (CZE) [12]
Matteo Berrettini (ITA) / Maximilian Marterer (GER) vs Roman Jebavy (CZE) / Andres Molteni (ARG)
Maria Irigoyen (ARG) / Carina Witthoeft (GER) vs Kaia Kanepi (EST) / Andrea Petkovic (GER)
Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) / Jean-Julien Rojer (NED) [9] vs David Ferrer (ESP) / Marc Lopez (ESP)

COURT 8 – 11:30 START

Rebecca Peterson (SWE) vs Donna Vekic (CRO)
Mackenzie McDonald (USA) vs Nicolas Jarry (CHI)
Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) [25] vs Gilles Muller (LUX)

COURT 9 – 11:30 START

Andre Begemann (GER) / Yasutaka Uchiyama (JPN) vs Pablo Cuevas (URU) / Marcel Granollers (ESP) [11]
Christina McHale (USA) / Jelena Ostapenko (LAT) vs Naomi Broady (GBR) / Asia Muhammad (USA)
Katie Boulter (GBR) / Katie Swan (GBR) vs Lucie Hradecka (CZE) / Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE) [14]
Elise Mertens (BEL) / Demi Schuurs (NED) [8] vs Sorana Cirstea (ROU) / Sara Sorribes Tormo (ESP)

COURT 10 – 11:30 START

Robin Haase (NED) / Robert Lindstedt (SWE) vs Ivan Dodig (CRO) / Rajeev Ram (USA) [10]
Sofia Kenin (USA) / Sachia Vickery (USA) vs Nicola Geuer (GER) / Viktorija Golubic (SUI)
Yulia Putintseva (KAZ) / Ajla Tomljanovic (AUS) vs Kirsten Flipkens (BEL) / Monica Niculescu (ROU) [13]
Max Mirnyi (BLR) / Philipp Oswald (AUT) [16] vs Julio Peralta (CHI) / Horacio Zeballos (ARG)

COURT 11 – 11:30 START

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) / Samantha Stosur (AUS) vs Nadiia Kichenok (UKR) / Anastasia Rodionova (AUS)
Liam Broady (GBR) / Scott Clayton (GBR) vs Frances Tiafoe (USA) / Jackson Withrow (USA)
Matthew Ebden (AUS) / Taylor Fritz (USA) vs Peter Gojowczyk (GER) / Benoit Paire (FRA)
Maria Sakkari (GRE) / Donna Vekic (CRO) vs Xinyun Han (CHN) / Luksika Kumkhum (THA)

COURT 14 – 11:30 START

Sorana Cirstea (ROU) vs Evgeniya Rodina (RUS)
Adrian Mannarino (FRA) [22] vs Ryan Harrison (USA)
Julia Goerges (GER) [13] vs Vera Lapko (BLR)
Jay Clarke (GBR) / Cameron Norrie (GBR) vs Marcelo Arevalo (ESA) / Hans Podlipnik-Castillo (CHI)

COURT 15 – 11:30 START

Jonathan Erlich (ISR) / Marcin Matkowski (POL) vs Jonathan Eysseric (FRA) / Hugo Nys (FRA)
Ivo Karlovic (CRO) vs Jan-Lennard Struff (GER)
Veronika Kudermetova (RUS) / Aryna Sabalenka (BLR) vs Danielle Collins (USA) / Jessica Moore (AUS)

COURT 16 – 11:30 START

Ken Skupski (GBR) / Neal Skupski (GBR) vs Ilija Bozoljac (SRB) / Damir Dzumhur (BIH)
Aljaz Bedene (SLO) vs Radu Albot (MDA)
Belinda Bencic (SUI) / Kateryna Kozlova (UKR) vs Lara Arruabarrena (ESP) / Arantxa Parra Santonja (ESP)

COURT 17 – 11:30 START

Andrea Petkovic (GER) vs Yanina Wickmayer (BEL)
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP) vs Daniil Medvedev (RUS)
Madison Brengle (USA) vs Camila Giorgi (ITA)
Alex Bolt (AUS) / Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) vs Raven Klaasen (RSA) / Michael Venus (NZL) [13]

MATCHES TO BE ARRANGED

NOT BEFORE 17.00

Raquel Atawo (USA) / Anna-Lena Groenefeld (GER) [11] vs Xenia Knoll (SUI) / Anna Smith (GBR)
Luke Bambridge (GBR) / Jonny O'Mara (GBR) vs Lukasz Kubot (POL) / Marcelo Melo (BRA) [2]
Ysaline Bonaventure (BEL) / Bibiane Schoofs (NED) vs Hao-Ching Chan (TPE) / Zhaoxuan Yang (CHN) [7]

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Watch: Rafael Nadal Just Hit the Most Jaw-Dropping Smash You’ll Ever See at Wimbledon

The Spaniard needed something incredible to win the point. He found it.


File under: things that make your jaw drop.

Also: how did he do that?

And: can this guy win Wimbledon?

Check out this amazing, athletic over-the-shoulder smash from Rafael Nadal during the second set of his first-round match with Dudi Sela of Israel on Day 2 of the Championships. It’s just a gentle reminder that while many like to label Nadal a “grinder” and a “baseliner” he is one of the greatest shotmakers to ever live.

Tennis Express

Just look at how he snaps this ball while in full flight like a flying lawnmower tossed about in a storm but still resolutely focused on trimming Wimbledon’s lawns.

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Wimbledon Day 2 Order of Play

Top half of the women's draw and bottom half of the men's on Tuesday at SW19. The full schedule for Day 2 of the Championships…

CENTRE COURT – SHOW COURT – 13:00 START 1

Garbine Muguruza (ESP) [3] vs Naomi Broady (GBR)
Dudi Sela (ISR) vs Rafael Nadal (ESP)
[2] Simona Halep (ROU) [1] vs Kurumi Nara (JPN)

No.1 COURT – SHOW COURT – 13:00 START

Kyle Edmund (GBR) [21] vs Alex Bolt (AUS)
Aliaksandra Sasnovich (BLR) vs Petra Kvitova (CZE) [8]
Tennys Sandgren (USA) vs Novak Djokovic (SRB) [12]

No.2 COURT – SHOW COURT – 11:30 START

Johanna Konta (GBR) [22] vs Natalia Vikhlyantseva (RUS)
James Duckworth (AUS) vs Alexander Zverev (GER)
[4] Dominic Thiem (AUT) [7] vs Marcos Baghdatis (CYP)
Vitalia Diatchenko (RUS) vs Maria Sharapova (RUS) [24]

Tennis Express

No.3 COURT – SHOW COURT – 11:30 START

Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG) [5] vs Peter Gojowczyk (GER)
Angelique Kerber (GER) [11] vs Vera Zvonareva (RUS)
Matthew Ebden (AUS) vs David Goffin (BEL) [10]
Belinda Bencic (SUI) vs Caroline Garcia (FRA) [6]

COURT 12 – SHOW COURT – 11:30 START

Ashleigh Barty (AUS) [17] vs Stefanie Voegele (SUI)
Nick Kyrgios (AUS) [15] vs Denis Istomin (UZB)
Jack Sock (USA) [18] vs Matteo Berrettini (ITA)
Heather Watson (GBR) vs Kirsten Flipkens (BEL)

COURT 18 – SHOW COURT – 11:30 START

Ernests Gulbis (LAT) vs Jay Clarke (GBR)
Taro Daniel (JPN) vs Fabio Fognini (ITA) [19]
Monica Niculescu (ROU) vs Naomi Osaka (JPN) [18]
Jana Fett (CRO) vs Daria Kasatkina (RUS) [14]

COURT 4 – 11:30 START

Ana Bogdan (ROU) vs Lara Arruabarrena (ESP)
Alison Van Uytvanck (BEL) vs Polona Hercog (SLO)
Vasek Pospisil (CAN) vs Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ)
Benoit Paire (FRA) vs Jason Jung (TPE)

COURT 5 – 11:30 START

Alize Cornet (FRA) vs Dominika Cibulkova (SVK)
Marius Copil (ROU) vs Robin Haase (NED)
Julien Benneteau (FRA) vs Marton Fucsovics (HUN)
Marketa Vondrousova (CZE) vs Sachia Vickery (USA)

COURT 6 – 11:30 START

Damir Dzumhur (BIH) [27] vs Maximilian Marterer (GER)
Jennifer Brady (USA) vs Kateryna Kozlova (UKR)
Pierre-Hugues Herbert (FRA) vs Mischa Zverev (GER)
Magda Linette (POL) vs Yulia Putintseva (KAZ)

COURT 7 – 11:30 START

Feliciano Lopez (ESP) vs Federico Delbonis (ARG)
Lorenzo Sonego (ITA) vs Taylor Fritz (USA)
Pauline Parmentier (FRA) vs Taylor Townsend (USA)
Alison Riske (USA) vs Mariana Duque-Marino (COL)

COURT 8 – 11:30 START

Daria Gavrilova (AUS) [26] vs Zarina Diyas (KAZ)
Diego Schwartzman (ARG) [14] vs Mirza Basic (BIH)
David Ferrer (ESP) vs Karen Khachanov (RUS)
Sara Sorribes Tormo (ESP) vs Kaia Kanepi (EST)

COURT 9 – 11:30 START

Jiri Vesely (CZE) vs Florian Mayer (GER)
Albert Ramos-Vinolas (ESP) vs Stephane Robert (FRA)
Sofia Kenin (USA) vs Maria Sakkari (GRE)
Carla Suarez Navarro (ESP) [27] vs Carina Witthoeft (GER)

COURT 11 – 11:30 START

Ana Konjuh (CRO) vs Claire Liu (USA)
Frances Tiafoe (USA) vs Fernando Verdasco (ESP) [30]
Gilles Simon (FRA) vs Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO)

COURT 14 – 11:30 START

Christian Harrison (USA) vs Kei Nishikori (JPN) [24]
Gabriella Taylor (GBR) vs Eugenie Bouchard (CAN)
Katie Boulter (GBR) vs Veronica Cepede Royg (PAR)

COURT 15 – 11:30 START

Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE) vs Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) [30]
Pablo Cuevas (URU) vs Simone Bolelli (ITA)
Guido Andreozzi (ARG) vs Horacio Zeballos (ARG)

COURT 16 – 11:30 START

Shuai Peng (CHN) vs Samantha Stosur (AUS)
Yuichi Sugita (JPN) vs Bradley Klahn (USA)
Saisai Zheng (CHN) vs Qiang Wang (CHN) 

COURT 17 – 11:30 START

Bernard Tomic (AUS) vs Hubert Hurkacz (POL)
Denisa Allertova (CZE) vs Anett Kontaveit (EST)
[28] Marco Cecchinato (ITA) [29] vs Alex De Minaur (AUS)

NOT BEFORE 18.00

Danielle Collins (USA) vs Elise Mertens (BEL) [15]

MATCHES TO BE ARRANGED NOT BEFORE

17.00 Jeremy Chardy (FRA) vs Denis Shapovalov (CAN) [26]
Jelena Ostapenko (LAT) [12] vs Katy Dunne (GBR)

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Roger Federer Says He has Been Drug Tested Seven Times in the Last Month

The Swiss knows that it isn't easy to keep a clean sport.

Think Serena Williams has it bad? Don’t tell Roger Federer that. The Swiss told reporters on Sunday in his pre-Wimbledon press conference that he has been tested by tennis doping control seven times in the last month alone.

Wimbledon 2018: Day 1 Order of Play | Andy Murray Withdraws | Muguruza's Plan for Pressure

“I've had a lot of testing the last month,” Federer said. “I think I've had seven tests. It's been quite heavy. Also blood and urine. Two in Stuttgart, in Halle. In the village I live in in Switzerland, the tester lives in the same village, so it's very convenient. It's very convenient. If he's bored at home, he probably just says, ‘Let me check in on Roger to see if he's having a good time.’"

Federer says the tests don’t bother him, but anti-doping’s lack of consistency with regard to how many tests they carry out on each player, and where they administer those tests, does.

Tennis Express

“I've been tested quite a bit, quite frequently out of competition,” he said. “I mentioned many times in Dubai I've hardly ever been tested, which has been quite disappointing. To be honest, in the 15 years I've been there, it's been one test.”

Federer believes that funding may be the cause of the discrepancies at times, and called for more funding on Sunday.

“I think it varies from place to place that you spend your time in,” he said. “Maybe that's the part I don't like so much: the inconsistency of the places where they test. I understand it probably also has something to do with the budget of WADA, like flying somebody there just for that one test, I understand. Yet that should not be an excuse. That's why I think after all we still need more funding. I hope that's going to happen.”

The Swiss, who will open his bid to become a nine-time Wimbledon champion on Monday when he faces Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic, says tennis can never have enough testing, even if it is annoying at times.

“I don't believe there's ever going to be enough testing,” he said. “What's important is these people are professional, they know what they're doing, they treat you like humans, not like criminals. Then it's okay. But I understand the frustration sometimes. I have it, too.”

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Wimbledon Day 1 Order of Play

Ready? Set? Go! Here's your Day 1 schedule for WimbledonHere is the order of day for Wimbledon, Day 1

CENTRE COURT – 1:00PM

1. Roger Federer v Dusan Lajovic
2. Varvara Lepchenko v Caroline Wozniacki
3. Stan Wawrinka v Grigor Dimitrov

NO.1 COURT – 1:00PM

1. Donna Vekic v Sloane Stephens
2. Liam Broady v Milos Raonic
3. Arantxa Rus v Serena Williams

Tennis Express

NO.2 COURT – 11:30AM

1. Marin Cilic v Yoshihito Nishioka
2. Johanna Larsson v Venus Williams
3. Gael Monfils v Richard Gasquet
4. Elina Svitolina v Tatjana Maria

NO.3 COURT – 11:30AM

1. Sam Querrey v Jordan Thompson
2. Ajla Tomljanovic v Madison Keys
3. John Isner v Yannick Maden
4. Coco Vandeweghe v Katerina Siniakova

COURT 12 – 11:30AM

1. Karolina Pliskova v Harriet Dart
2. Daniil Medvedev v Borna Coric
3. Norbert Gombos v Kevin Anderson
4. Svetlana Kuznetsova v Barbora Strycova

COURT 18 – 11:30AM

1. Lucas Pouille v Denis Kudla
2. Ekaterina Alexandrova v Victoria Azarenka
3. Stefanos Tsitsipas v Gregoire Barrere
4. Julia Goerges v Monica Puig

COURT 4 – 11:30AM

1. Evgeniya Rodina v Antonia Lottner
2. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez v Gastao Elias
3. Malek Jaziri v Jared Donaldson
4. Tereza Smitkova v Viktoriya Tomova

COURT 5 – 11:30AM

1. Peter Polansky v Dennis Novak
2. Luksika Kumkhum v Bernarda Pera
3. John-Patrick Smith v Andreas Seppi
4. Lesia Tsurenko v Timea Babos

COURT 6 – 11:30AM

1. Alexandra Dulgheru v Kristyna Pliskova
2. Petra Martic v Ekaterina Makarova
3. John Millman v Stefano Travaglia
4. Vera Lapko v Christina McHale

COURT 7 – 11:30AM

1. Gilles Muller v Michael Mmoh
2. Aleksandra Krunic v Madison Brengle
3. Ryan Harrison v Roberto Carballes Baena
4. Viktorija Golubic v Ons Jabeur

COURT 8 – 11:30AM

1. Mona Barthel v Yanina Wickmayer
2. Camila Giorgi v Anastasija Sevastova
3. Yuki Bhambri v Thomas Fabbiano
4. Radu Albot v Pablo Carreno Busta

COURT 10 – 11:30AM

1. Sergiy Stakhovsky v Joao Sousa
2. Yafan Wang v Anna Blinkova
3. Lukas Lacko v Benjamin Bonzi

COURT 11 – 11:30AM

1. Magdalena Rybarikova v Sorana Cirstea
2. Jason Kubler v Guido Pella
3. Laslo Djere v Paolo Lorenzi

COURT 14 – 11:30AM

1. Jan-Lennard Struff v Leonardo Mayer
2. Kiki Bertens v Barbora Stefkova
3. Irina-Camelia Begu v Katie Swan

COURT 15 – 11:30AM

1. Nicolas Jarry v Filip Krajinovic
2. Viktoria Kuzmova v Rebecca Peterson
3. Steve Johnson v Ruben Bemelmans

COURT 16 – 11:30AM

1. Philipp Kohlschreiber v Evgeny Donskoy
2. Ricardas Berankis v Mackenzie McDonald
3. Anna Karolina Schmiedlova v Kristina Mladenovic
4. Aryna Sabalenka v Mihaela Buzarnescu

COURT 17 – 11:30AM

1. Shuai Zhang v Andrea Petkovic
2. Ivo Karlovic v Mikhail Youzhny
3. Adrian Mannarino v Christian Garin
Not Before: 6:00pm
4. Kateryna Bondarenko v Lucie Safarova

TO BE ARRANGED 1 – 11:00AM

Not Before: 5:00pm 1. Aljaz Bedene v Cameron Norrie

TO BE ARRANGED
2 – Not Before: 5:00pm
1. Agnieszka Radwanska v Elena-Gabriela Ruse

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With Roland Garros Title Done and Dusted, Halep Starts another Quest

The Romanian has visions of gold dancing in her head.


After winning Roland Garros and being emphatically embraced by the Romanian public with open arms, Simona Halep is hoping to take it to the next level. The Romanian told reporters on Saturday at Wimbledon that she has set a new goal for herself: two in an Olympic medal.

Wimbledon 2018: Wozniacki Comes in Hot on Heels of Title 29

“The dream came true,” said Halep. “So I don't stress myself any more with that Grand Slam thing. It's nice to be in this position. But, you know, gives me just happy moments, nothing else. I was dreaming for this. I did it. Now I have already set another goal.”

Tennis Express

When asked what that new goal was, Halep quickly stated her intentions: “Actually it's about the Olympics,” she said. “I would love to have an Olympic medal. So my focus is on that.”

Halep said she was moved by the affection that the Romanian people showed her. “Actually it was one of my best moments,” she said of her post-Roland Garros celebration at the National Arena in Bucharest. “To see over 20,000 people coming out to see me and to see the trophy, it was amazing. Actually I had tears in my eyes actually receiving the love from the people.”

She added:

“It's really nice to see that those people were appreciating my work and my result. I think it was a dream for them also, to have a tennis player winning a Grand Slam again after 40 years. It was an amazing moment. I really thank them for doing that. It was special. I took a lot of energy from them.”

Top-seeded Halep will open her 2018 Wimbledon campaign on Tuesday against Japan’s Kurumi Nara. Halep, a quarterfinalist last year at SW19, owns a 1-0 record against Nara.

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Murray Will Play Wimbledon Only if He Can Do Himself Justice

The two-time champion is mulling over a big decision.
After three matches in two weeks, including an impressive victory over fellow comeback kid Stan Wawrinka, two-time Wimbledon champion Andy Murray is mulling over the decision to play at this year’s Championships.

It’s not so much a decision of fitness, says Murray. The real question then being: Can the Scotsman do himself “justice?”

“There is no risk [to] me playing tennis just now,” Murray said on Wednesday after losing to Kyle Edmund at the Nature Valley International at Eastbourne, according to Ros Satar of Britwatch Sports. “That’s not really the point. It’s just whether I feel like I’m able to do myself justice.”

Murray is enthused by his level of play but just isn’t sure that he’ll have what it takes to make an impactful Wimbledon run at this stage of his comeback.


“I have made decent improvements the last couple of weeks and obviously have been somewhat competitive in the matches that I have played,” he said. “But, you know, so I don’t just want to go out there to just play. I want to be able to compete properly. And if I don’t feel like I can do that, then I won’t play.”

We can expect a decision from Murray before tomorrow’s draw, which is to be held at 10 AM London time. If he plays he could be a very dangerous floater on a full tank of energy at his old stomping grounds.

Tennis Express

“If I do [decide to play] and physically I feel ready, mentally I’m in the right place, then I’ll go for it, but there’s no danger about me injuring my hip more than there would be at any other stage,” Murray said. “Obviously I could slip and fall and hurt myself, but that’s got nothing to do with my decision whether I play the tournament or not.”

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Del Potro, Djokovic Join Laver Cup Roster

Djokovic will join Federer on Team Europe, with Del Potro joining Nick Kyrgios on Team World. Laver Cup is more like the popcorn cup. The competition added two marquee names on Thursday, as Juan Martin del Potro signed on to help Team World and Novak Djokovic was added to Team Europe.


“I’m very excited about playing the Laver Cup in Chicago later this year and helping to defend the title for Team Europe,” Djokovic said in a statement..

“I love the whole concept of ‘rivals becoming teammates’ and can’t wait to join Roger Federer in Team Europe under the leadership of our inspirational captain, Bjorn Borg, one of the most accomplished players in tennis history.

“Roger and I have played so many tough matches, and he is such a great champion so it will be a unique experience being part of the same team and perhaps even playing doubles together.

Tennis Express

“This is a unique new event for world tennis and one I’m looking forward to being part of,” said Del Potro. “I’m also excited about coming to Chicago. It’s home to so many sports teams and is known as one of the most sports-mad cities in the world. It will be great to bring tennis back to Chicago and I’m sure all the fans will come out and support Team World.”

The Laver Cup will take place September 21-23 in Chicago. Learn more about the competition here.

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At Boodles, Taylor Fritz is Taylor Swift for an Awkward Moment

The American had a pop star moment after his exhibition match with Juan Martin del Potro at Boodles. When you’re 20 and trying to make a name for yourself on the ATP Tour, it’s not always great to have someone mistakenly confuse you for a MEGA pop star of the opposite sex. But you know what they say? Any press is good press, so when American Taylor Fritz was accidently referred to as Taylor Swift yesterday at the Boodles he took it in stride (well, sort of).


Tennis Express

Swift, er, Fritz, ranked 68, will make his third Wimbledon main draw appearance this week. He has yet to win a match at SW19 and owns a 1-7 lifetime record at the majors with his only win coming at last year’s U.S. Open.

Photo: Andy Hopper

 

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