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The Aussie had some kind words for Halep on social media when all was said and done. Former champ LLeyton Hewitt and top-seeded Simona Halep took to the court for a grueling practice today in London. Looks like both players enjoyed the experience quite a bit—after they caught their breath.

Thank you soooo much for the practice @lleytonhewitt ☺️☺️ It’s amazing how well you play and make it look so easy. I was dead at the end 😜 Thanks also to @darren_cahill for organising and Andrei Pavel for joining in. I had the best day @wimbledon 😍 #luckygirl pic.twitter.com/dcUf7Dvdep

— Simona Halep (@Simona_Halep) June 27, 2018

Practising on the #Wimbledon courts with @Simona_Halep, a certain 2002 champion @lleytonhewitt… 👀 pic.twitter.com/CtrVQ4jYmj

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) June 27, 2018

Hewitt, 37, has taken a wild card into the doubles with Alex Bolt. Hewitt and Halep both have won Grand Slams with Darren Cahill as their coach, so the pair have more in common than their well-documented and much-celebrated battle lust.

Haha… @Simona_Halep you hit it great and took it easy on me 😜 https://t.co/vozPLCLKIR

— Lleyton Hewitt (@lleytonhewitt) June 27, 2018

The two-time Wimbledon champion hopes to be in good health for Wimbledon next week.
Petra Kvitova has withdrawn from this week’s Nature Valley International in Eastbourne, citing an injured hamstring that she injured while winning the title last week at Birmingham.

The Czech defeated Kateryna Bondarenko in round two at Eastbourne for her sixth straight win on grass and said the injury was worse this morning when she woke up.

🙏🌱❤️ pic.twitter.com/9kRTySRUgo

— Petra Kvitova (@Petra_Kvitova) June 27, 2018

“I felt my hamstring in the Birmingham final and although I played with tape in my match here yesterday, when I woke up this morning it felt worse. With Wimbledon around the corner I couldn’t take the risk of making it worse by playing today,” wrote Kvitova on social media.

The two-time Wimbledon champion is seeded eighth at this year’s Championships.

The 15-year-old will be wearing Fila shoes and apparel from now on.

The Viking God, part 2.

Earlier this year Fila announced that it had re-partnered with tennis legend Bjorn Borg. The relationship had first begun in 1975.

On Monday Fila announced that it has paired with Bjorn Borg’s son Leo in a deal that will put the 15-year-old in Fila footwear and apparel on and off the court.

Leo, who recently turned 15 years old, was ranked No. 1 in the Under-14 age group in Sweden and captured the U14 Swedish Masters title last November. Also among his accomplishments in 2017 were victories at the Iceland Open U16, the Toyota Cup U14 and the Kystmesterskaberne U14, as well as a quarterfinal round appearance at the Junior Orange Bowl U14. This year, he was the Salk Open U16 winner.

“We are thrilled to partner with Leo as we continue our commitment to the next generation of tennis players,” said Gene Yoon, Global Chairman at FILA. “As the newest member of the FILA family, we are excited to support Leo as he strives to leave his own mark on the game.”

“It’s an honor to represent FILA, a brand that has played such an important role for my father,” said Leo Borg. “I am grateful for this opportunity at such an early stage in my career.”

More about FILA:

ILA is a sponsor of the BNP Paribas Open, the Dell Technologies Tennis Hall of Fame Open, the Rogers Cup and Coupe Rogers, the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, the Mercedes Cup, the Argentina Open, the Rio Open, the German Open, and the Junior Orange Bowl International Tennis Championship. In addition to event partnerships, FILA is an official supplier to Tennis Canada, Junior Tennis Champions Center, Van der Meer Tennis, John Newcombe Tennis Ranch, and the Kim Clijsters Academy in Belgium.

The Aussie, predictably, has been at it again….
Nick Kyrgios will be a bit lighter in the wallet when he gets to Wimbledon. The Aussie was fined € 15K ($17,550) for “inappropriate behavior” by tournament supervisor Lars Graff after simulating a lewd act with a water bottle during his loss to Marin Cilic in the semifinals at the Fever-Tree Championships.

To see what Kyrgios did, click here.

The Aussie, 23, heads to Wimbledon with a ranking of 19 in the world. He was in rude form in other ways at London last week as well. He hammered 32 aces in back-to-back matches to reach his first career semifinal at Queen’s Club.

Julien Benneateau will take over for Yannick Noah on the Fed Cup side for Les Bleus Amelie Mauresmo has been named France’s first female Davis Cup captain, while Julien Benneteau has been named as the Fed Cup captain, the French Tennis Federation announced on Saturday.

Les capitaines des #TeamFranceTennis 2019 et 2020 seront @AmeMauresmo pour la #CoupeDavis et @julienbenneteau pour la #FedCup. #Tousenbleu 🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/wo6wOpWyG6

— FFT (@FFTennis) June 23, 2018

.@AmeMauresmo (Coupe Davis) et @JulienBenneteau (Fed Cup) ont été nommés capitaine pour 2019 et 2020. Réactions des intéressés et du président de la FFT, @BGiudicelli. pic.twitter.com/9XnX3OcIDD

— FFT (@FFTennis) June 23, 2018

Mauresmo was quick to credit her term coaching Andy Murray as a factor in her progression to captaincy.  Murray and Mauresmo worked together for nearly two years before splitting in 2016.

"I am thinking of Andy because without him I would not be here today," the 38-year-old said on Saturday. "He had confidence in me when others thought that it was an aberration."

Both Benneteau and Mauresmo will replace Yannick Noah, who held both posts, guided France to its third Davis Cup title in 2017.

Bravo Amélie & Julien, nouveaux capitaines des bleus en Coupe Davis et Fed Cup ! Un membre de la commission #Paris2024 et la première capitaine en Coupe Davis… Inspirant 🙂 pic.twitter.com/Oo5cQsRe1j

— Tony ESTANGUET – OLY (@TonyESTANGUET) June 23, 2018

The Swiss thinks matches are the key to his revivalStan Wawrinka has accepted a wild card into next week’s Nature Valley International at Eastbourne. The Swiss, still trying to find his form after undergoing double surgery to his left knee last season, owns a 5-8 record on the season and lost in the second round at Queen’s Club on Wednesday to Sam Querrey.

📣 Exciting news!Former World No.3 @stanwawrinka has accepted a wild card into the #NatureValleyInternational in Eastbourne 👉 https://t.co/vO2413oxxU pic.twitter.com/fhe96GI98R

— British Tennis (@BritishTennis) June 21, 2018

Wawrinka says he is feeling good about his form, and simply needs more matches now.

“All I know is that I personally feel really good with the way I'm practicing, the way I'm moving and the way I'm playing my game,” he said after Wednesday’s 7-5, 6-7, 6-1 loss to the American. “Now all I need is to keep playing match like today, like two days ago, also, try to win little by little, get the confidence back, get used to play all those important points, feeling the right way mentally on the court, knowing that when you play a match like that, if you play ten matches like that, then you think less and you know exactly what you're going to do at 5-5, you know what you're going to do in the tiebreak, and that's how you start winning again.”

According to Wawrinka, his knee is as good as it can be, but he admits that he may never be the same in that regard.

“After Paris I did two strong week of practice physical, a little bit of tennis but mostly physical,” the 33-year-old said. “And when I arrive here, I'm feeling great.”

He added: “For sure, there is there that is not the same and there is few things on the court that is not the same and maybe will never be the same. But I believe that I'm strong enough now to play my best tennis. Is it going to be enough? We don't know.”

The Greek showed his acrobatic skills with this gorgeous dive volley at Halle.

Today’s match with World No.109 Denis Kudla didn’t go Stefanos Tsitsipas’ way in Halle, but the 19-year-old rising star left his mark on the grass-court with this spectacular diving volley and recovery.

Grass Season, 2018: Thiem Stunned in Halle | Tiafoe's Milestone at Queen's | Novak and Nature

Not only did Tsitsipas make the outrageous dive to keep the point alive against Kudla, he also recovered in time to snag the put-away volley winner.

This kind of work takes a lot of heart and courage, as well as magical hands.

It was definitely the shot of the day in Halle, and even though Tsitsipas fell 6-3, 6-4, he’ll go home with another notch on his highlight reel.

Diving into 2018 World Cup ⚽️ like… https://t.co/vgLxuevqFO

— Stefanos Tsitsipas (@StefTsitsipas) June 20, 2018

Photo Source: Thomas Starke/Getty Images Europe

Low expectations and joie de vivre will carry Andy Murray forward on the first days of his long awaited comeback.

Ahead of his first competitive tennis match in 11 months, former World No.1 and three-time major champion Andy Murray spoke to Catherine Whitaker about his expectations for his opening round match against Nick Kyrgios on Tuesday at the Fever-Tree Championships at Queen’s Club, and why he feels differently about tennis after such a long and difficult hiatus.

Grass Season 2018: Thiem, Nishikori Roll on Day 1 in Halle | Close Call Causes Konta Meltdown

“It’s obviously nice,” Murray said when asked how he felt about beginning his comeback from hip surgery in London, where he has won five Queen’s Club titles, an Olympic Gold Medal, an ATP World Tour Finals title and two Wimbledon titles. “I was hoping that I was going to be able to play a bit sooner—I was planning on in Holland last week but it just came a little bit too soon—but obviously nice for me to play my first match back in 11 months here.”

Murray went on to say that his 11-month layoff has forced him to take a different view of the sport. Once a top player that carried all the pressure that goes with defending Grand Slam titles and being No.1 in the world, Murray is now about to embark on a journey of reconnection. More than the pressure and the victories, he craves the pure and simple joy of tennis and is motivated by his desire to play for the love of the game.

“In 2016 I thought that winning Grand Slams and being No.1 was the most important thing in my tennis career, whereas now I don’t see that,” he said. “I want that to still be the case, obviously, I’d love to win Grand Slams and I’d love to get to No.1 in the world—all tennis players would—but I just want to play tennis.”

Murray says that more than anything, he felt a void in his life when away from the game, one that can only be filled by getting back on the court.

“I love playing tennis,” he said. “I’ve really, really missed it a lot. I’ve missed competing and that’s the most important thing, getting back to doing what I love doing. Sport is about winning and losing obviously but it’s not just about that there’s more to it. This has been my life since I was pretty young. It’s been tough but you look at things a little bit differently as you get older and go through times like that so I’m hoping that will help me through the comeback."

As Murray returns he finds the game in very much the same state it was in many years ago, when he was climbing up the rankings behind a two-headed monopoly at the top of the ATP food chain. Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal rule the tour once again in 2018, but not to worry: Murray says that’s a positive sign. 

The 31-year-old sees hope in the fact that players like Nadal and Juan Martin del Potro have been able to launch comebacks and reinvent themselves well beyond their 30th birthday. He also sees the recent uptick in form of Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka as reason to believe.

“A lot of the older players recently have been doing better and I think a lot of it is down to the level as well—[Federer and Nadal] are two of the best players of all-time so provided they are healthy they are going to be able to compete and win the biggest competitions,” Murray said. “There’s a lot of sort of case studies around just now—they give you hope and optimism. I don’t know if this week I’m going to be playing well, I don’t know if it will be three or four weeks’ time, but maybe in three or four months when I’ve had a bit more matches under my belt and a bit more training time, hopefully I’ll be able to get back to that level again.”

For now, Murray is content to tap into his love of the game, and let the chips fall where they may. He’ll do that tomorrow in London, on the hallowed lawns of Queen’s Club, and even though he doesn’t expect to win, he’s hoping to feel the electricity of competition coursing through his veins.

“My expectations, they are extremely low,” he said. “I’m not expecting to win against Kyrgios, I don’t think it would be right to think that way after such a long time out, but obviously I want to be competitive, I don’t just want to go out there and sort of roll over and play badly, I want to try and play well and feel good on the court.”

The Argentine is following the advice of his doctor after a long clay season. Juan Martin del Potro joins Rafael Nadal on the sidelines by pulling out of next week’s Fever Tree Championships at Queen’s Club.

More: Nadal Pulls out of Queen's Club

Del Potro said that his doctor recommended he take the time off to rest and recuperate after playing through a Grade 1 groin strain at Roland Garros and reaching the semifinals.

Juan Martin del Potro has sadly been forced to withdraw from the Fever-Tree Championships after medical advice to rest.

He said: "I am sad I will not be playing in Queen's this year. I was really excited to play and I hope to be back next year!"#QueensTennis pic.twitter.com/4AaNYsIOB9

— Fever-Tree Championships (@QueensTennis) June 15, 2018

Del Potro was the tournament’s top seed after Nadal had withdrawn. He isn't expected to play on grass before Wimbledon this summer.

The news isn’t all bad for the event, however. Novak Djokovic took a wild card to play Queen’s Club earlier this week, and Andy Murray is expected to decide on his participation on Saturday before the draw is held.

Back at Queens tournament, first time since 2010. Happy to be here. One of the most beautiful Centre courts in the world #fevertreechampionships pic.twitter.com/ULWUCP9BQr

— Novak Djokovic (@DjokerNole) June 15, 2018

The Frenchman breaks new ground on the 'tweener front and celebrates like a boss.

When it comes to winning matches on the ATP Tour, uber-talented Frenchman Benoit Paire can be hit or miss. When it comes to the ability to dazzle, don’t worry about it, Paire’s got you covered.

More Grass Season: Kyrgios Magic | Federer's Fuel | Sharapova, Keys out of Birmingham

Case in point: This remarkable ‘tweener struck by Pair in the second set of his 7-6(3), 6-4 loss to Tomas Berdych on Thursday at the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart. There is no term to describe this shot—the ‘tweener, or Hot Dog, is supposed to come back through the legs, but Paire, whether by happenstance or plan, has found a way to send this ball back over the net from outside of his left leg.

Add to that the fact that the shot was perfectly executed, landing for a clean winner just over the net, and you see why A) this is going to be one of the Shots of the Year when it’s all said and done and, B) Paire was still celebrating at the changeover in his chair like a player who had just won Wimbledon.