Good morning, Court Theorists! ☕️🌱
Today’s tennis mood: Ready for Serena and intrigued by the Wimbledon wild cards.
Let’s tennis!
-Allen
🎾 Today on the grass: It’s day two of week two on the grass, and we’ve got a ton of intriguing matches on the books for today (more on that below). But! Perhaps most importantly, Serena Williams is back on the court for some doubles action, this time with Karolina Muchova. Although her game is perfect for doubles in many ways, Muchova hasn’t had the greatest success on the doubles court in recent years. Still, her calm demeanor might be her best asset as far as Serena is concerned, as she makes her way back on tour.
🎾 Wimbledon wild cards: Speaking of Serena, Wimbledon announced the majority of its wild cards on Tuesday, and Serena and Venus Williams are in…as a doubles team. Neither one was awarded a singles wild card. Other notable wild cards include Roland-Garros finalist Maja Chwalinska, Stan Wawrinka in his final year on tour, and Grigor Dimitrov. That last one is a bit of a head-scratcher. Keep your eyes peeled for a possible retirement announcement.
Women’s singles wild cards list: Maja Chwalinska, Harriet Dart, Alicia Dudeney, Hannah Klugman, Mika Stojsavljevic, Katie Swan, Mimi Xu, and one final spot TBA.
Women’s doubles wild cards list: Katie Boulter/Heather Watson, Madeleine Brooks/Amelia Rajecki, Jodie Burrage/Mika Stojsavljevic, Freya Christie/Eden Silva, Harrie Dart/Maia Lumsden, Alicia Dudeney/Mimi Xu, Serena Williams/Venus Williams
Men’s singles wild card list: Grigor Dimitrov, Jacob Fearnley, Arthur Fery, Jack Pinnington Jones, Toby Samuel, Stan Wawrinka, and two final spots TBA.
Men’s doubles wild cards list: Alexander Bublik/Nick Kyrgios, Dan Evans/Henry Searle, Ben Jones/Joshua Paris, Johannus Monday/Harry Wendelken, David Stevenson/Marcus Willis, and two final spots TBA.
🎾 One to watch: Jenson Brooksby vs. Martin Damm (1st round ATP 500 - London): Watch this one to see two Americans who know how to play on grass, albeit in two totally different ways. Be impressed by Damm’s classic big serving, grip-and-rip, tennis. And marvel at Brooksby’s clever shot-making, sliding the ball around the court until he can sneak in to knock off a volley of his own.
The record: Jenson Brooksby leads the head-to-head record over Martin Damm 1-0. However, that single win was five years ago at a Challenger tournament on clay.
On the line: For Damm, this match is about stringing together more matches right as his career is heating up.
🎾 🏆 🎤 YOUR CALL
(Yesterday’s poll results: You were split 50-50 on Cobolli vs. Frances Tiafoe. Tiafoe won 6-2, 7-6.)
And that’s game.
