Welcome back to the Monday Tennis Briefing, where The Athletic will explain the stories from the past week on-court.
This week, grass season began, as tennis players ready themselves for Wimbledon, which starts on July 1.
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Can Jack Draper kick on from a title earned with patience?
In the inaugural The Athletic tennis briefing in April, new British No 1 Jack Draper was at the centre of a curious statistic. He was statistically the “best” returner on the ATP Tour, after facing off against Hubert Hurkacz in Monte Carlo, who at that time was the best server. Draper lost in a tight three-set match symptomatic of his last few months on tour, which culminated in a visibly infuriating five-set defeat to Dutch qualifier Jesper de Jong at the French Open. When Draper lost his serve in the final set, he screamed at himself while waiting for de Jong to serve it out, chastising his passivity.
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Not so now. After defeating grass-court specialist Matteo Berrettini 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 in Stuttgart to win the Boss Open, Draper is ranked No 31, in line for seeding at Wimbledon, and most importantly looks ready to step into the dominating, aggressive game style that he has always possessed but for a long time has appeared unable to harness. His first-serve percentage is up from 59 to 64 on clay and grass this year, which he credits to his coach telling him to just go for it; his first-serve points won percentage is up from 75 to a staggering 87.
It’s a small sample size of six matches (but still the largest number of matches played on the surface in 2024) and grass will always favour the server, but the signs are promising, with the left-hander appearing a little more willing to embrace risk and hitting more precise spots for the reward of easy points. In becoming the first British man since 2003 to win a grass-court title who isn’t Andy Murray, the most encouraging factor for Draper is that he is finally looking entirely unencumbered.
Is Bianca Andreescu and Naomi Osaka’s showdown a prophecy?
Naomi Osaka and Bianca Andreescu are now one apiece in their head-to-head, in matches five years apart.
Andreescu prevailed in ‘s-Hertogenbosch 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(3) in a display of both players’ quality and resilience, the factors that looked set to form a compelling rivalry at the top of the game in 2019 before life decided to take another course for them both.
Osaka, on the back of nearly taking out eventual champion Iga Swiatek at the French Open, is playing the kind of tennis befitting a four-time Grand Slam champion and former world No 1, while Andreescu is displaying the creativity and intelligence, allied to rocketing power, that won her the U.S. Open in the year of that first meeting. She made it all the way to the final in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, losing 6-4, 3-6, 5-7 to Liudmila Samsonova and breaking into tears when thanking her team and family on court for their support in the hard years.
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Most crucially, both players look like themselves, off court as much as on it, weathering the difficult art of the tennis comeback while giving Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Aryna Sabalenka, and Elena Rybakina some pause for thought about the next while at the top of the WTA Tour.
If Osaka and Andreescu can stay fit, this match-up in the Netherlands will presage many more in bigger matches to come.
GO DEEPER
Naomi Osaka and the cruelty of tennis comebacks
What can Boulter and Raducanu learn from each other’s trajectories?
For much of Saturday and Sunday, Britain’s Katie Boulter and Emma Raducanu were locked in a thrilling semifinal at the Rothesay Open in Nottingham. Eventually, after three hours and 13 minutes, it was Boulter who prevailed 6-7(13), 6-3, 6-4.
Later that day, Boulter beat Karolina Pliskova in the final to successfully defend the title she won last year. The rankings may not say it because of Raducanu’s injuries, but she and Boulter are considered by many to be Britain’s two best female players, with remarkably different career trajectories.
On one side there’s Raducanu, still only 21, who exploded with that highly improbable U.S. Open win three years ago as a qualifier. She has since struggled with injuries and her semifinal run in Nottingham was her best performance at a tournament for almost two years.
Boulter, by contrast, is perhaps older than some might expect at 27 and has had a much more steady career. She too has suffered with injuries but now sits at a highly creditable world ranking of 31, a long way above Raducanu, who while still battling back from multiple surgeries is down at No 165 and reliant on wild cards to enter the biggest events (including Wimbledon).
Boulter is now at the point where after steady progress she needs a breakout result like Raducanu’s in New York to really elevate herself into the upper echelons, while Raducanu, after a few very up-and-down years, would surely love the kind of serenity her compatriot has started to enjoy. She will hope that last week’s run at Nottingham will be the springboard to do something similar.
GO DEEPER
The wisdom of crowds: Tricolores, trumpets, and truculence at Roland Garros
What should you look out for this week?
Carlos Alcaraz plays his first tournament since winning the French Open, looking to defend his Cinch Championships title at the Queen’s Club. It was here last year that Alcaraz discovered how well his game worked on grass, having entered the tournament unsure of how to move on the surface and whether he’d be able to master its particular intricacies.
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A few weeks later, he had completed the Wimbledon-Queen’s double and his form in west London this week may offer a few clues as to how ready he is to defend his title at the All England Club next month. Ahead of the tournament, he said that his movement would take a little longer to synchronise with the green stuff, but having a clear idea of what he needs to do will make the transition easier.
On the women’s side, the biggest tournament this week is the 500 event in Berlin. Gauff and Sabalenka are the top two seeds there as they begin their grass-court preparation for Wimbledon. World No 1 Swiatek pulled out of Berlin last week off the back of her latest triumph at Roland Garros and will likely go into the next Grand Slam tournament with little preparation on a surface that she is still figuring out. Gauff, Sabalenka and 2022 Wimbledon champion Rybakina will be keen to get a step ahead in Berlin, as they look to take advantage of Swiatek’s relative discomfort on grass.
At the other WTA Tour event this week, Boulter will look to build on her title win in Nottingham at the Rothesay Classic in Birmingham. Former Wimbledon semi-finalist Jelena Ostapenko is the top seed there.
GO DEEPER
The trick to winning on Wimbledon grass? Get low, stay low and embrace the chaos
Shots of the week
Welcome to the @BublikAlexander x @Lorenzo1Musetti show 🍿pic.twitter.com/suzzaZUVWd
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) June 14, 2024
Sizzling forehand on break point 🔥@naomiosaka successfully breaks for the @BetMGM Shot of the Day! pic.twitter.com/DTIlNU91HL
— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) June 14, 2024
Recommended reading:
- How much tennis do tennis players watch?
- Patrick Mouratoglou wants to blow up tennis, but he needs its norms to have a chance to do so
- How Carlos Alcaraz won three Grand Slam titles on three different surfaces
- Wimbledon confirms record £50million prize money for 2024 tournament
🏆 The winners of the week
🎾 ATP:
🏆 Jack Draper def. Matteo Berrettini 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 to win the Boss Open (250) in Stuttgart, Germany. It is Draper’s first ATP title.
🏆 Alex de Minaur def. Sebastian Korda 6-2, 6-4 to win the Libema Open (250) in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands. It is de Minaur’s ninth ATP title.
🎾 WTA:
🏆 Katie Boulter def. Karolina Pliskova 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 to win the Rothesay Open in Nottingham, England. It is Boulter’s third WTA title.
🏆 Liudmila Samsonova def. Bianca Andreescu 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 to win the Libema Open (250) in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands. It is Samsonova’s fifth WTA title.
📈📉 On the rise / Down the line
📈 Alex de Minaur moves up two places, from No 9 to No 7. It is the Australian’s highest career ranking to date.
📈 Diane Parry ascends 11 spots from No 64 to No 53, after reaching the semifinal at the Rothesay Open in Nottingham.
📈 Jack Draper moves up nine positions from No 40 to No 31. It puts the Briton into contention for seeding at Wimbledon.
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📉 Jan-Lennard Struff falls six places from No 35 to No 41 to drop out of the top 40.
📉 Katie Boulter drops one position from No 30 to No 31 despite winning a title, having only defended points after triumphing in Nottingham last year too.
📉 Nuno Borges moves down three spots from No 48 to No 51 to drop out of the top 40.
📅 Coming up
🎾 ATP:
📍London, Queen’s (500) featuring Carlos Alcaraz, Andy Murray, Grigor Dimitrov, Alex de Minaur
📍Halle, Germany, Halle Open (500) featuring Daniil Medvedev, Jannik Sinner, Joao Fonseca, Matteo Berrettini
📺 UK: BBC (Queen’s) U.S.: Tennis Channel 💻 Tennis TV
🎾 WTA:
📍Berlin, Ecotrans Ladies Open (500) featuring Coco Gauff, Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina, Ons Jabeur
📍Birmingham, England, Rothesay Classic (250) featuring Sloane Stephens, Leylah Fernandez, Caroline Wozniacki, Jelena Ostapenko
📺 UK: BBC (Birmingham); U.S.: Tennis Channel
Tell us what you noticed this week in the comments below as the men’s and women’s tours continue.
(Top photo: Rene Nijhuis/BSR Agency/Getty Images)