Good morning, Court Theorists! ☕️🌱
Today’s tennis mood: Some serious head shaking, but also curious to see how today shakes out.
Let’s tennis!
-Allen
presented by
🎾 On tap: It’s quarterfinals day in Bad Homburg, Mallorca, and Eastbourne. It’s also the final round of Wimbledon qualifying at Roehampton. And in all of these matches, we’re starting to get a sense of who might be dark horses (or at least capable of pulling off a significant upset or two) at the All England Club.
🎾 Dan and done: Dan Evans played the final singles match of his career after losing in Wimbledon qualifying on Wednesday to Tristan Schoolkate 7-5, 6-0. After it was over, he quickly and unceremoniously left the court. But he did share some unvarnished truths during press, while others continue to lament his lack of a wild card into the main draw of his final event.
What he said: “When they don’t say hello to you and certain things, you have a fair idea. They keep their distance,” Evans said of LTA officials. “I’m not the only one, either. I knew it wasn’t coming. And you know what I actually really enjoyed that court, and without the wild card I wouldn’t have got a chance, so they actually helped me have a better experience than I thought I was going to have.” He added: “It was amazing and great fans out there and hopefully some Brits are on that court tomorrow and qualify.”
And: “If you’re not getting [a wild card] there [at the ATP Challenger at Ilkley], I think you don’t need to be a rocket scientist, which I certainly am not, to work out I wasn’t getting one into the main draw of Wimbledon or getting any help,” said Evans. “I wrote my letter as well as I could. Maybe my punctuation and grammar wasn’t great. It got there, at least. I know it got there.”
Next: Evans has unfinished Wimbledon business in the main draw of doubles with his young charge, Henry Searle.
🎾 Iga out: In pro tennis, there’s a tendency to “do what worked last year.” But Iga Swiatek wasn’t the defending champ at Wimbledon last year. This year, she is. So, was it risky leaving her only warm-up tournament to the week before Wimbledon? Yep. That risk didn’t pay off. She lost her first match to Emma Navarro, and now she goes into Wimbledon with a 0-1 record on grass and 2000 points to defend. Not great, Bob.
🎾 One to watch: Grigor Dimitrov vs. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (Quarterfinals - ATP 250 Mallorca): Watch this one for a contrast in play, both of which are rewarded on grass in their own way. Davidovich Fokina will blast serves and groundies, letting the court’s quick pace magnify their effect for winners and forced errors. Meanwhile, expect Dimitrov to use the geometry of the court and the skip of his slice to provide opportunities to finish points off at the net. Who wins? If Dimitrov can stave off the power of Davidovich Fokina long enough to get his own shots in, the roundness of his game makes him the winner.
The record: Davidovich Fokina leads the head-to-head record over Dimitrov 2-0. However, those matches were in 2021 and 2022, and both were on clay.
On the line: For Davidovich Fokina, this is about reps going into Wimbledon, where he’s only reached the third round. For Dimitrov, the stakes are a little higher. He wants to make good on the Wimbledon wild card he’s been awarded, and this will be his first test against a top player this grass season.
🎾 🏆 🎤 YOUR CALL
(Yesterday’s poll results: 57% of you wanted Emma Navarro to defeat Iga Swiatek. Navarro won 7-5, 2-6, 6-3.)
And that’s game.
