Roger Federer of Switzerland and Andy Murray of Great Britain practice ahead of the Championships – Wimbledon 2021 at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on June 25, 2021 in London, England.
This is what Andy Murray had in mind while catching some of Novak Djokovic’s French Open semifinal bout with Rafael Nadal on TV:
“There’s something in me that’s jealous of it. Like, I’d love to play those matches,” Murray said recently. “I would still love to compete with him in the semifinals and slam stuff. I loved him. I’m not going to try to hide it.”
And that’s at least part of why the 34-year-old from Scotland stuck with his game after two hip operations and is back at Wimbledon, where games begin Monday after being canceled in 2020, for the first time in singles. ready to compete. 2017 at the place where he won two of his three Grand Slam titles.
“Some of it has deep roots. It’s something I’ve done my whole life. So yeah, it’s obviously going to be a difficult task to leave,” said Murray, whose 2013 championship at the All England Club cost him 77 Made him the first British man to win a grass-court tournament in years. “I miss being on center court, stuff like that. I lost him. I also miss the pressure of him. That’s something I look forward to feeling again.”
The former No. 1-ranked man returned to action at the Queens club tuneup after spending three months between singles matches and is currently out of the top 100, so he needed a wild-card invitation to enter the main draw.
Murray will face No. 24 seed Nikoloz Basilashvili on the first day at Center Court.
As part of his preparation, Murray practiced with Roger Federer last week.
“It was great to share the court again with Andy. We were trying to think of the last time we shared a practice court together,” Federer said. “I thought he looked cool. To be honest you can see how comfortable he is on the grass. Obviously it’s just practice, we’re trying things out. But I hope he gets deeper here.” Can go, can score good runs.
Here’s what else to know about the 134th edition of Wimbledon:
coco comes back
The last time Wimbledon was held, Coco Gauff announced herself to the world.
Then ranked 15 and outside the top 300, the American became the youngest qualifier in tournament history to make her Grand Slam debut and, as if that wasn’t enough, before losing to Venus Williams and two others. Players defeated. From eventual champion Simona Halep in the fourth round.
Gauff, now 17, has continued to make progress, including two WTA singles titles, an appearance in this month’s French Open quarterfinals and a rise in the rankings that allows her to finish 20th at Wimbledon.
“I’m definitely excited to be back,” Gauff said. “That was the start of my career, I think, and I have to make it on the Pro Tour.”
hey champion
When French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova entered the main interview room at the All England Club for a pre-tournament video conference, she looked around and said, “This is big,” then whispered, “Oh, my God.”
These sessions with the media are usually reserved for Grand Slam title winners and contenders, with the kind of players used to the setting. But Krejcikova has never played in a Wimbledon singles main draw before.
His title at Roland Garros, where he also won the doubles trophy, came in his fifth major in singles.
“You can actually see that I feel really quite nervous. My voice is – I really can’t put good words together, because it’s all so new and it’s all really exciting and special,” Krejcikova said. “Plus, it’s stressful. I didn’t expect it to happen. Now here I am.”
bubble, bubble
A year after calling off its main event due to the pandemic, the All England Club established a “minimum risk environment” with COVID-19 testing, a “track-and-trace programme” and players requiring players to stay at home. and his crew stay in a designated hotel in London.
This rule also applies to British players – and their team members – who can usually stay at their homes or athletes who usually rent private homes in Wimbledon Village.
27th seed Johanna Konta, a player based in England, spoke on Saturday about being “too awkward” to overtake her home on her way to Wimbledon – and on Sunday, she was taken off the field as she neared The contact was a member of his team who tested positive for COVID-19.
sit outside
While Serena Williams is chasing 24th Grand Slam title and Djokovic is at 20th, some other big names in tennis are missing from the bracket.
This includes two of the top three women in the WTA rankings (defending champion Simona Halep and four-time major titleist Naomi Osaka) and two of the top five men in the ATP rankings (Nadal and Dominic Thiem).
CH-CH-change
Among changes to the oldest Grand Slam tournament, which was first contested in 1877:
– A serve clock has been added for matches, aligning Wimbledon with other major tournaments, allowing 25 seconds when the chair umpire announces the score when the next point should begin.
The pre-match warm-up is being reduced from five minutes to four.
– All courts have an electronic replay review system that allows players to challenge calls; The system was added to Courts 4–11. The early callers will still be there, though: the 2021 Australian Open and US Open did away with the line judges, Wimbledon did not.
— It is the final year of Wimbledon with the traditional Mid-Sunday holiday. When competition on that day is folded in 2022, it will transform into a 14-day event such as the US Open and the Australian Open (the French Open lasts 15 days), currently the only 13-day Grand Slam tournament.
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