Tennis News

Aussie Andrew Harris has never played in a tour-level match, but come Monday, he might be playing at The Championships. The 25-year-old reached the final round of Wimbledon qualifying on Wednesday, beating 17th seed Sergiy Stakhovsky 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.

Stakhovsky famously upset Roger Federer in the second round of the grass-court Grand Slam in 2013. Harris, however, has his own compelling background story. The Melbourne native reached No. 6 in the world as a junior and won the 2012 Roland Garros and Wimbledon junior boys' doubles titles with countryman Nick Kyrgios.

Harris ended his junior career after winning the Wimbledon title and then played collegiate tennis at the University of Oklahoma under coach John Roddick, brother of former No. 1 Andy Roddick. The Aussie helped the Sooners reach the 2016 National Collegiate Athletic Association final, falling to the University of Virginia Cavaliers.

Harris will next meet top seed Corentin Moutet, who made the third round at Roland Garros. The #NextGenATP Frenchman routed American Tim Smyczek 6-1, 6-3.

Attila Balazs, 30, is one match away from playing in his first tour-level grass-court event. The Hungarian was down 2-6, 1-5 and saved two match points from 4-5 in the second set to beat Illya Marchenko 2-6, 7-6(5), 6-3. Balazs retired in August 2014 and started coaching tennis, but he felt like it was too soon to be on the other side of the net.

Read More: Five Years After Retiring, Balazs Reaches Budapest QF

“It was just too boring,” Balazs said in April, when he reached the Hungarian Open quarter-finals. “I said that I’m too young for coaching and felt the motivation in myself to make a comeback. I felt that I had nothing to lose and obviously now I’m very happy with the decision.”

He has put the hip injury that made him miss seven months last year behind him as well. Balazs will next meet Spain's Marcel Granollers.

In other action, American Noah Rubin, 2014 Wimbledon boys' singles champion, beat Ecuador's Roberto Quiroz 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 and will next play German Yannick Hanfmann. #NextGenATP Swede Mikael Ymer knocked out fan favourite Dustin Brown of Germany 7-6(5), 6-2.

Brown upset Rafael Nadal in the 2015 Wimbledon second round and, just two weeks ago, beat No. 5 Alexander Zverev at the MercedesCup in Stuttgart. Ymer, who qualified and won his first Grand Slam match at Roland Garr

Read more: https://www.atptour.com/en/news/harris-ymer-brown-wimbledon-qualifying-2019-wed

American Taylor Fritz willed himself to his third quarter-final of 2019 on Wednesday, overcoming a late stumble to upset top seed Guido Pella of Argentina 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 at the Nature Valley International in Eastbourne.

The 2018 Next Gen ATP Finals qualifier hit 13 aces and won 83 per cent of his first-serve points to notch his first victory of the grass-court season. Fritz also made the quarter-finals at the ASB Classic in Auckland and the semi-finals at the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Lyon.

“I tried to just attack with my backhand, take my backhand early, crosscourt as much as possible. I knew he was going to play the forehand cross to my backhand. I wanted to rush his forehand and just be aggressive whenever I was able to,” Fritz said.

The 21-year-old was broken while serving for the match at 5-3 in the third set but refused to stay down.

“I just played a really poor game. I didn't make any first serves. The only way to say it is I really choked that game,” Fritz said. “I switched sides and told myself, 'I can't lose', because I'll be so mad if I lose this match because of how I played that game when I was trying to serve out the match.”

Fritz will next meet Poland's Hubert Hurkacz, who also competed at last year's Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan. The 22-year-old Hurkacz beat Steve Johnson of the U.S. 6-3, 7-6(5) to also make his third quarter-final of the season (BNP Paribas Open, Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships).

Third seed Kyle Edmund of Great Britain saved all three break points to beat countryman Cameron Norrie 6-2, 6-2. Edmund, No. 31 in the ATP Rankings, is through to his first tour-level quarter-final of the season and improved to 7-11 on the season. He will next meet Brit Daniel Evans, who dismissed Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-3, 7-5.

Read More: Herbert Narrows His Vision

Italian qualifier Thomas Fabbiano upset second seed Laslo Djere of Serbia 7-6(5), 7-6(6) and will next meet France's Gilles Simon. American Sam Querrey, who made the Wimbledon semi-finals in 2017 (l. to Cilic), didn't face a break point and dropped only eight service points (37/45, 82%) to beat Serbian Dusan Lajovic 6-2, 6-3 in only 50 minutes.

Querrey will next face fifth seed Fernando Verdasco, who beat Argentine Juan Ignacio Londero 6-7(4),

Read more: https://www.atptour.com/en/news/fritz-pella-eastbourne-2019-wednesday

Viktor Troicki recorded his biggest match win for 21 months on Wednesday for a place in the Turkish Airlines Open Antalya quarter-finals. The Serbian qualifier knocked out top seed and World No. 32 Benoit Paire of France 7-6(4), 7-6(5) in one hour and 40 minutes.

““Those were some of the toughest conditions I've ever played in,” Troicki told ATPTour.com. “I'm very happy that I got through and managed to win in two sets. I also want to thank the crowd for showing up and supporting us. [The heat] tough for the players and for the fans as well.”

The former World No. 12, who missed three months of last season due to a back injury and competes this week at No. 193 in the ATP Rankings, notched the last Top 20 win of his career over then No. 16-ranked John Isner in October 2017 at the Rolex Shanghai Masters.

The 30-year-old Paire, winner of ATP Tour titles this year at the Grand Prix Hassan II in Marrakech (d. Andujar) and at the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Lyon (d. Auger-Aliassime), hit 11 aces and won 29 of his 34 first-service points against Troicki.

Troicki will next play Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic, who knocked out sixth-seeded Frenchman Ugo Humbert 6-4, 7-5 in 86 minutes.

Read more: https://www.atptour.com/en/news/troicki-paire-antalya-2019-wednesday

The All England Lawn Tennis Club committee has announced the 32 singles seeds and 16 doubles seeds for The Championships at Wimbledon, which begins on Monday, 1 July.

Eight-time former champion Roger Federer, currently No. 3 in the ATP Rankings, has been promoted to second seed ahead of 2008 and 2010 titlist Rafael Nadal, the World No. 2. Novak Djokovic, who came into last year’s tournament as the World No. 21, is top seed and will be attempting to add to his 2011, 2014-15 and 2018 Wimbledon crowns. Last year’s runner-up and No. 8-ranked Kevin Anderson is among the top four singles seeds, while 2017 finalist and World No. 18 Marin Cilic is 13th seed.

Since 2002, The Championships has employed a unique seeding system, where they take into account previous results over a two-year period on grass courts.

• Take the ATP Ranking points on 24 June 2019
• Add 100 per cent of the points earned for all grass court tournaments in the past 12 months
• Add 75 per cent of the points earned for the best grass court tournament in the 12 months before that

The singles main draw ceremony takes place on Friday.

Singles Seeds [ATP Ranking]
1. Novak Djokovic (SRB) [1]
2. Roger Federer (SUI) [3]
3. Rafael Nadal (ESP) [2]
4. Kevin Anderson (RSA) [8]
5. Dominic Thiem (AUT) [4]
6. Alexander Zverev (GER) [5]
7. Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) [6]
8. Kei Nishikori (JPN) [7]
9. John Isner (USA) [12]
10. Karen Khachanov (RUS) [9]
11. Daniil Medvedev (RUS) [13]
12. Fabio Fognini (ITA) [10]
13. Marin Cilic (CRO) [18]
14. Borna Coric (CRO) [14]
15. Milos Raonic (CAN) [17]
16. Gael Monfils (FRA) [15]
17. Matteo Berrettini (ITA) [20]
18. Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO) [16]
19. Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN) [21]
20. Gilles Simon (FRA) [25]
21. David Goffin (BEL) [23]
22. Stan Wawrinka (SUI) [19]
23. Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) [22]
24. Diego Schwartzman (ARG) [24]
25. Alex de Minaur (AUS) [29]
26. Guido Pella (ARG) [26]
27. Lucas Pouille (FRA) [28]
28. Benoit Paire (FRA) [32]
29. Denis Shapovalov (CAN) [27]
30. Kyle Edmund (GBR) [31]
31. Laslo Djere (SRB) [30]
32. Dusan Lajovic (SRB) [33]

Doubles Seeds
1. Lukasz Kubot (POL) / Marcelo Melo (BRA)
2. Juan Sebastian Cabal (COL)  / Robert Farah (COL)
3. Raven Klaasen (RSA) / Michael Venu

Read more: https://www.atptour.com/en/news/federer-djokovic-nadal-wimbledon-2019-seeds

ATP has today announced that the resale of tickets for the 2019 and 2020 Nitto ATP Finals at The O2 in London will be through an exclusive partnership with AXS and its platform AXS Official Resale: strengthening the two companies’ long-standing relationship in the primary market.

AXS Official Resale is a new platform that incorporates state-of-the-art ticketing technology. Already launched in the UK and expanding to European markets, AXS Official Resale will provide tennis fans with the option to resell tickets at face value with a cap of no more than 10% above the price paid.

The ticketing solution allows fans to buy and then resell through the same platform. For the first time ever, all Nitto ATP Finals tickets for sale through AXS, including primary and secondary, will be visible to consumers at the point of purchase in real time.

Buy Your London Tickets

The move by the ATP to partner with AXS for resale at The O2 – one of Europe’s biggest and busiest entertainment venues – underlines a commitment to a fairer and more transparent experience for fans.

The method of delivery for AXS Official Resale - ‘Flash Mobile Delivery’ - is a mobile-friendly, identity-based system. Tickets are assigned directly to fans attending, replacing the standard PDF attached to an email. The fact the tickets are sold through AXS, The O2’s Official Ticketing Partner, will eliminate any purchase confusion and remove anxiety fans may have about whether their resale ticket is valid.

To alleviate the problems surrounding counterfeiting, all tickets are assigned to individuals via Flash Mobile Delivery’s unique digital ID technology. This includes a changing barcode system, which ensures that tickets cannot be copied or shared illegally - emphasising AXS’ ongoing commitment to combatting fraud.

By eliminating paper tickets, fans will have quicker and simpler access to the venue by simply scanning the app.

Commenting on the partnership, Adam Hogg, Event Director of the Nitto ATP Finals, said: “We have a great relationship with AXS as the Official Ticketing Partner of the Nitto ATP Finals and we’re looking forward to carrying this relationship over to the resale market. Our partnership with AXS and their resale platform enables tennis fans to buy and sell tickets at a fair price in a safe and secure environment. Our aim is for the Nitto ATP

Read more: https://www.atptour.com/en/news/axs-official-resale-nitto-atp-finals-2019

Since 2003, only four players — Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray — have won the Wimbledon singles title. All eyes will be on the quartet again at The Championships in 2019, with Djokovic, Nadal and Federer leading the chase for the singles title and Murray continuing his comeback by playing doubles.  

Djokovic made an emotional run to his fourth Wimbledon title last year at The All England Club, a triumph that lifted the Serbian back into the Top 10 and helped him propel to an year-end No. 1 finish in the ATP Rankings. "It took me many tournaments, but I couldn't pick the better place, to be honest, in the tennis world to peak and to make a comeback," he said. 

Two-time champion Nadal will come to Wimbledon on a 12-match winning streak after celebrating his first two titles of the season at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome and at Roland Garros. Eight-time champion Federer will also enter the grass-court major with momentum after clinching his 10th title at last week's NOVENTI OPEN in Halle.

Murray, who in 2013 became the first British male singles champion since Fred Perry in 1936, will focus his efforts on doubles as he teams up with Pierre-Hugues Herbert. In his first tournament back from hip surgery, Murray capped off a dream week with Feliciano Lopez at The Queen's Club by winning the Fever-Tree Championships title.

Here's all you need to know about Wimbledon: when is the draw, what is the schedule, where to watch, who won and more.  

Established: 1877

Tournament Dates: 1-14 July 2019

Chief Executive: Richard Lewis

Draw Ceremony: Friday, 28 June at 10:00am, at The All England Club

Schedule (View On Official Website)
* Qualifying: Monday, 24 June - Thursday, 27 June
* Main draw: Daily play begins at 11:00am on outside courts, 1:00pm on Centre & No. 1 Courts from Monday, 1 July
* Doubles final: Saturday, 13 July
* Mixed doubles final: Sunday, 14 July
* Singles final: Sunday, 14 July at 2:00pm

How To Watch
View TV Schedule

Venue: The All England Lawn Tennis Club
Main Court Seating: 15,000

Prize Money: &

Read more: https://www.atptour.com/en/news/wimbledon-tennis-grand-slam-history-draw-schedule-tickets