Czech Lehecka opens grass campaign with win in Stuttgart
June 9 (Reuters) - Rising Czech force Jiri Lehecka began his Wimbledon build-up in impressive fashion with a 6-4 6-4 defeat of Benjamin Bonzi in the opening round of the Stuttgart Open on Monday.
The eighth seed, whose last match on grass was in the Wimbledon fourth round in 2023, quickly got up to speed to overpower Bonzi, firing down 13 aces.
Lehecka, 23, will face 2023 Stuttgart runner-up Jan-Lennard Struff next after he thumped down 30 aces during a 6-4 6-4 victory over Italy's Matteo Arnaldi, his first win against a top-50 opponent this season.
American sixth seed Brandon Nakashima came through a battle against Britain's Jacob Fearnley, winning 4-6 7-6(4) 6-1.
Top seed at the ATP 250 event is Alexander Zverev.
Action also began at the Libema Open in Den Bosch with two-time runner-up Jordan Thompson beginning another run with a 6-4 6-4 defeat of American Aleksandar Kovacevic.
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The Sun
39 minutes ago
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Tennis fans slam BBC live coverage of Queen's after Emma Raducanu snub ahead of Wimbledon
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The accuracy and consistency of calls in real-time will speed things up, save time and should mark the end of arguments over the tight incorrect calls - well, until the technology malfunctions. And Wimbledon's hand was somewhat forced to ditch tradition for their standing in tennis. The Australian Open and US Open already use electronic line calling and the ATP Tour is adopting Hawk-Eye Live across all of its tournaments from 2025. Wimbledon's refusal to comply would leave them lagging behind and exposed to the threat of needless controversy over human error. But the impact - as is so often the case in these decisions - has ramifications further down, below the surface with very little impact on Wimbledon's Championships or the players. It is on the line judges themselves. Approximately 300 officials - aged from 18 to 80 - covered more than 650 matches at Wimbledon. A fraction travel internationally with the circuit but the vast majority of those are part-time line judges based in the UK, earning up to £180 per day to work at the prestigious tournament and their chance to play their part at Wimbledon. For many, they will help out at British tournaments throughout the year, spurred on by the possibility of taking to the lawns of the All England Club. But it is understood many of those officials would be reluctant to work at the lower-level tournaments without the carrot of Wimbledon dangling in the summer. That in turn will put a major stumbling block in the pathway for British tennis umpires, who grind up through the ranks to reach the pinnacle of the sport. Like football with referees, tennis needs umpires and line judges. So the inability to call "out" at Wimbledon could prove to be a major "fault" for the future of the UK's tennis officials and therefore the state of the sport on these shores.
