1) Battle for No. 1: Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal, Stan Wawrinka and Novak Djokovic will battle at Wimbledon to be World No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings on 17 July. Nadal must reach the fourth round, while Wawrinka and Djokovic must win the title for a chance at unseating Murray from No. 1. Among the scenarios, four certainties exist for Murray, Nadal, Wawrinka and Djokovic: - Murray will remain No. 1 by reaching his fourth Wimbledon final. - Nadal will return to No. 1 by reaching his sixth Wimbledon final. - Wawrinka will debut at No. 1 by winning his first Wimbledon title. - Djokovic will return to No. 1 by winning his fourth Wimbledon title, but only if...
10 THINGS TO WATCH IN ANTALYA Two for Turkey: The inaugural Antalya Open begins on Sunday and is the second ATP World Tour 250 event to be held in Turkey. The third-annual TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open was won by Marin Cilic on 7 May. Antalya is being held on grass courts, while Istanbul was played on clay. Thiem is Top Seed: World No. 8 Dominic Thiem is the No. 1 seed and leads the tour with 10 quarter-finals or better in 2017. The 23-year-old Austrian enjoyed his eighth title at Rio de Janeiro, second Grand Slam semi-final at Roland Garros and first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final at Madrid. He owns wins this season over No. 1 Andy...
10 THINGS TO WATCH AT QUEEN’S CLUB Best Event: Players selected the Aegon Championships as the ATP World Tour 500 Tournament of the Year in 2015 and 2016. The event received ATP World Tour 250 honors in 2013 and 2014. Very Strong Field: Five of the Top 10 players in the Emirates ATP Rankings are in this week’s field: World No. 1 and five-time champion Andy Murray, Roland Garros runner-up Stan Wawrinka, 2016 finalist Milos Raonic, 2012 champion Marin Cilic and 2011 finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Past Champs: Murray is the only five-time champion in event history (est. 1890). All past champs since 2009 are in the 2017 field, including Cilic, Sam Querrey (2010) and Grigor Dimitrov (2014). Murray Returns: Murray...
10 THINGS TO WATCH IN STUTTGART Grass Circuit Opens: The six-tournament grass-court circuit leading into Wimbledon begins in Stuttgart and ’s-Hertogenbosch. The inaugural Stuttgart event was in 1898, with Mercedes-Benz assuming the role of title sponsor in 1979. This is the third year the event is being played on grass. Federer Leads Field: Roger Federer is one of four Top 20 players who will receive first-round byes. The other Top 4 seeds are Grigor Dimitrov, Tomas Berdych and wild card Lucas Pouille. Roger Returns: Federer is playing in his first event since winning the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title in Miami on 2 April. The Swiss star is 19-1 this season and on an 11-match win streak. In his...
1. 2017 Roland Garros: This is the 50th tournament in the Open Era (since 1968) and 87th at Roland Garros since 1925 (tournament was not held from 1940-45 during World War II). In 1925, the draw was opened to players outside of France. The French Championships started in 1891 and this is the 116th overall staging of the tournament. There are three former champions in the field – reigning champ Novak Djokovic, 2015 titleholder Stan Wawrinka and nine-time winner Rafael Nadal (2005-08, 2010-14). 2. Big Four Dominate: Since Roland Garros in 2005, when Nadal won his first Grand Slam title, the Big Four have accounted for 43 of the past 48 Grand Slam titles. During the current stretch, Nadal has...